He found him there.
Daniel was waiting.
"You knew I'd come," Harris said.
Daniel nodded.
"I hoped you would."
Harris looked at him.
"What do you know about the ledger?"
Daniel's face hardened.
"Not enough."
"Then we need to find it."
Daniel looked at him carefully.
"Why?"
"Because I think your brother was telling the truth."
Daniel's eyes filled with something Harris hadn't seen before.
Hope.
After thirty-eight years, it was dangerous.
But it was alive.
The search led them to an abandoned storage building outside town.
Daniel had remembered something.
Thomas used to keep a spare key in an old toolbox.
The building belonged to their father.
It had been empty for years.
They entered near sunset.
Dust covered everything.
Daniel moved slowly through the room.
Harris searched shelves.
Neither man spoke.
Finally, Daniel stopped.
He stared at a wooden cabinet.
"My brother used to hide things here."
Harris opened it.
Inside were old tools.
Nothing else.
Daniel reached behind the cabinet.
His fingers touched something.
A metal box.
He pulled it out.
The lock had already been broken.
Inside was a stack of documents.
And underneath them—
A ledger.
Harris opened it.
Names filled the pages.
Business owners.
Contractors.
Politicians.
Police officers.
Judges.
Amounts of money.
Dates.
Initials.
Daniel's hands began to shake.
"That's it."
Harris looked at him.
"How do you know?"
"My brother told me about it."
The final pages contained a series of entries.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Richard Vale.
Another name appeared beside it.
A local businessman named Edward Crane.
Harris knew Crane.
Everyone did.
Crane had built half the new commercial district in Bellwood.
He had donated money to charities.
He had funded community projects.
He was considered a pillar of the town.
Harris turned the page.