She Found a Forgotten Case File at Work — Then Realized the Recent Murders Were Following Its 20-Year-Old List
Chapter 6
The next morning, Mara discovered that Daniel Reed had been suspended.
The official reason was mishandling evidence.
Mara didn’t believe it.
Neither did Daniel.
“They’re trying to isolate you,” she said.
Daniel looked at her.
“No.”
“They’re trying to isolate both of us.”
He gave her a tired smile.
“You’re learning.”
Together, they returned to the old hospital.
Room 12 had been sealed for twenty years.
The door still carried the original number.
Mara pushed it open.
Dust covered everything.
There was an old table.
Two chairs.
A broken recorder.
And a stain beneath the floorboards.
Daniel crouched.
“Help me.”
They lifted the boards.
Inside was a metal box.
Mara opened it.
Documents.
Photographs.
Bank statements.
And one cassette tape.
Daniel found an old recorder.
It still worked.
A man’s voice filled the room.
Jonathan Bennett.
Mara nearly collapsed.
“If you’re hearing this, I failed.”
She covered her mouth.
Her father’s voice continued.
“The murders were not random.”
A second voice interrupted.
Frank Reed.
“You need to stop.”
Jonathan replied:
“If we stop, more people die.”
Mara looked at Daniel.
His father’s voice sounded terrified.
“Jonathan, they know.”
“I know.”
“They’ll kill our families.”
“They already threatened mine.”
Silence.
Then Jonathan whispered:
“That’s why I’m making a list.”
The recording stopped.
Mara stared at the machine.
“What list?”
Daniel looked at the documents.
One page had been folded.
He opened it.
Five names.
The same five names.
But beneath them was another column.
PAYMENTS RECEIVED.
Mara’s eyes widened.
The men on the list had all received money shortly after the original murders.
Judge Harper.
Richard Cole.
Thomas Hale.
Robert Voss.
And Frank Reed.
Daniel stared at his father’s name.
“No.”
Mara touched his shoulder.
“Daniel.”
“My father wasn’t corrupt.”
“We don’t know what this means.”
He shook his head.
Then Mara noticed something.
The payments had been made by a company.
Bennett Security Holdings.
Her father’s company.
Mara stepped backward.
“Why would my father pay them?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Maybe he didn’t.”
The room went silent.
Because beneath the payment records was one final signature.
Not Jonathan Bennett.
Not Frank Reed.
Not any of the five men.
Thomas Hale.
