"You're Robert's son."
I stepped forward.
"Where is my father?"
Claire opened the door wider.
"Come inside."
Bennett hesitated.
"We need to speak with you officially."
"Then speak."
She turned and walked into the house.
The living room was full of old books, framed photographs, and boxes stacked against the walls. On a side table stood a picture of a young man and woman beside a river.
My father.
And Claire.
They looked happy.
I picked up the photograph.
"When was this taken?"
"1987," Claire said.
"Why did my mother tell me you were dead?"
"Because I asked her to."
"Why?"
Claire sat down.
"Because she believed I was responsible for what happened to your father."
"Were you?"
She looked at me for a long moment.
"Yes."
The answer was so direct that I almost didn't understand it.
Bennett moved closer.
"Explain."
Claire folded her hands.
"In 1994, I was working for Northfield Environmental Services. Harrow hired us to monitor groundwater around the Briar Glen development. What I discovered was that the company had been moving industrial waste through an underground drainage system. They were using the old pumping station as a transfer point."
"Was Daniel Ruiz involved?" I asked.
"He was one of the workers assigned to the system. He discovered that the material was not ordinary construction waste. He reported it to Thomas Vale."
"And then?"
"Thomas came to me. He wanted proof. I gave him some of the records."
"Why didn't you give them to the authorities?"
"Because Edward Mercer controlled the contracts, and he had friends in the county offices. I knew the records would disappear before anyone examined them."
Bennett asked, "What happened to Daniel?"
Claire lowered her eyes.
"He tried to shut down the system himself. Martin Cole caught him inside the chamber. There was an argument. Daniel fell."
"Was he alive?"
"Yes."
"Then why did the official report say he died?"
"Because Edward Mercer ordered the site cleared before an ambulance was called."
I felt sick.
"Who moved him?"
"Martin and two other workers."
"Where?"
"Northfield."
I stared at her.
"Was he treated there?"
"Briefly."
"What happened afterward?"
Claire looked toward the window.
"He never left."
The words were quiet.
But they seemed to fill the room.
Bennett leaned forward.
"Are you saying Daniel Ruiz died at Northfield?"
"Yes."
"Do you have proof?"
"I did. But Robert took it."
I felt my pulse quicken.
"My father?"
"He found the transfer records. He discovered that Daniel had been moved under a false identity. He confronted me. He wanted me to help him expose everything."
"Why didn't you?"
"Because I was afraid of what Edward Mercer would do."
"Then what happened to my father?"
Claire looked directly at me.
"I betrayed him."
The room went silent.
"How?" I asked.
"I told Martin where Robert was going. I thought they would frighten him into giving up the documents. I didn't know Martin would hurt him."
"You knew he was going to the pumping station."
"Yes."
"And you sent him there."
"I didn't send him. I told Martin where he would be."
I stepped back.
"That's the same thing."
Claire nodded.
"You're right."
"Did you take him to the hospital?"
"No. Martin did."
"Then why were you there?"
"Because I was the one who signed the transfer papers."
Bennett's expression hardened.
"You authorized the transfer to Northfield?"
"Yes."
"Under whose name?"
"Robert Hale."
"And then you erased the destination."
"I didn't erase it. Edward Mercer did."
"Why?"
"Because Robert was supposed to be kept under observation until he agreed to hand over the documents. But he escaped."
I stared at her.
"Escaped from Northfield?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"October 18, 1994."
The same date on the hospital record.
"Where did he go?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
Claire looked at me without anger.
"I wish I were."
Bennett asked, "What happened to the documents?"
Claire rose and walked to a cabinet.
She opened a drawer and removed a small metal box.
Inside was a bundle of photographs, several folded maps, and a cassette tape.
"Robert left these with me before he disappeared," she said. "He told me to keep them until someone came asking the right questions."
I stared at the cassette.
"What's on it?"
"Daniel Ruiz."
"Is he alive?"
"No."
Claire's voice broke.
"It's a recording he made before he died."
Bennett took the cassette.
"Why didn't you turn this over to the police?"
"Because the recording doesn't just implicate Harrow."
"Who else?"
Claire looked at me.
"Your father."