The last entry was dated three days before Thomas disappeared.
The amount was enormous.
Beneath it was a note.
MEET AT THE OLD QUARRY. BRING ORIGINALS.
Daniel closed his eyes.
"The old quarry."
Harris looked at him.
"You think Thomas went there?"
"I know he did."
"And?"
Daniel looked toward the door.
"And someone followed him."
The quarry had been closed for decades.
Trees had grown around the edges.
The road leading there was barely visible.
Daniel remembered going there with Thomas when they were children.
Back then, the place had seemed enormous.
Now it looked abandoned.
They arrived just before dark.
Harris carried a flashlight.
Daniel carried the ledger.
They walked toward the old quarry office.
Inside, they found a room with broken windows and rotting furniture.
Then Daniel saw something scratched into the wall.
Two letters.
T.M.
Thomas Mercer.
Below them was a date.
The date of his disappearance.
Daniel touched the wall.
His eyes closed.
"He was here."
Harris searched the floor.
"Look."
There was a loose board.
Under it was a metal container.
Inside was a cassette tape.
Harris stared at it.
"1988."
Daniel's breathing changed.
"What if this is his?"
They found an old tape recorder in the office.
It still worked.
Harris inserted the cassette.
Static filled the room.
Then a voice.
Thomas.
Older Daniel remembered him.
"Daniel, if you're hearing this, I'm probably already gone."
Daniel covered his mouth.
The recording continued.
"I found the people behind the missing evidence."
A pause.
"I found the ledger."
Another pause.
"But the ledger isn't the real evidence."
Harris leaned closer.
Thomas continued.
"The real evidence is the list of payments. Copies are hidden where nobody would think to look."
Static.
Then Thomas said something that changed everything.
"The badge isn't just mine."
Daniel opened his eyes.
"What does that mean?"
The recording continued.
"It belongs to the person who can prove what happened."
Then the tape ended.
Harris stared at Daniel.