Now he was beginning to understand that finding those answers would require uncovering an entire network of relationships, favors, and carefully hidden decisions.
The sheriff had been only the beginning.
And the people who had threatened Thomas had just revealed that they were still willing to do whatever it took to keep the rest of the story buried.
Thomas Bell had not spoken for nearly a minute.
The investigators continued their work around him, photographing the documents and recording the details of each item recovered from the metal case. Agent Catherine Walsh was speaking quietly with one of her colleagues, giving instructions about the original dispatch logs and the county commissioner's records. Evelyn Brooks stood beside the workbench, examining the photocopy bearing Michael Reed's handwriting.
But Thomas seemed to be somewhere else entirely.
Marcus watched him.
“Mr. Bell, what is Bellhaven Trust?”
Thomas raised his eyes.
“It's supposed to be a charitable foundation.”
“I know that much. My father wrote the name on the back of the document. Why?”
“Because he believed the foundation was being used for something other than charity.”
“What kind of something?”
Thomas glanced toward the investigators. He appeared to be weighing whether he should speak in front of them.
Evelyn noticed.
“Mr. Bell, if you have information relevant to this investigation, I would prefer that you share it now. We can document your statement properly. But I need you to understand that withholding information could put other people at risk.”
Thomas nodded slowly.
“About ten years ago, Michael came to my shop with a stack of photocopied financial statements. He had been looking into the transfer of the evidence from Samuel's case, and he discovered that several people connected to the county administration had received payments from organizations associated with Northstar Development.”
“Payments for what?” Walsh asked.
“He didn't know. Some were described as consulting fees. Others were listed as donations to local charities. A few were routed through companies that didn't appear to have employees or physical offices.”
“Did he have evidence that the payments were illegal?”
“Not enough to prove it. That's what frustrated him. The records looked suspicious, but every individual transaction had an explanation. A consultant had been hired. A donation had been made. A company had provided services. On paper, nothing seemed impossible.”
Evelyn folded her arms.
“And Bellhaven Trust?”
“Michael discovered that Northstar had donated money to the foundation shortly before several disputed properties changed ownership. The foundation then funded projects connected to people who had supported those sales.”
“Were those projects legitimate?” Walsh asked.
“Some probably were. A scholarship program was real. The fire department received new equipment. A community center was renovated. But Michael believed those public benefits were being used to make certain people appear respectable while other transactions remained hidden.”
Marcus remembered his father's notebook. The entries had seemed fragmented, almost meaningless without context. Now they were beginning to form a pattern.
“Did he tell you who was running it?” he asked.
Thomas hesitated.
“He mentioned a name once. A person who never appeared in the public photographs, never gave speeches, and rarely signed anything directly. Michael said that person understood how to make a decision look as though it had been made by someone else.”
“Who?”
“I don't remember hearing a name I could trust. He was careful. He said he needed to verify the person's involvement before he made an accusation.”
Evelyn looked down at the photocopy.
“That matches the language in the recording.”
“Yes,” Thomas said. “He was trying to identify whoever had authorized the transfer of Samuel's evidence.”
Walsh's expression hardened.
“We need the original transfer document, not just this copy. We also need the financial records, the foundation's board minutes, and any correspondence concerning the industrial properties.”
“I can tell you where Michael believed some of the documents were stored,” Thomas said.
Everyone turned toward him.
“Where?” Marcus asked.
Thomas drew a breath.
“In the old county courthouse.”
For a moment, the only sound was the faint buzz of the computer fan.
The courthouse had been closed to the public several years earlier, after the county moved most of its administrative offices into a modern building near the highway. The old structure remained standing in the center of Bellhaven, a brick building with boarded windows, a weathered stone entrance, and a basement that had once housed the county's paper archives.
“Why would evidence from a sheriff's investigation be stored in the courthouse?” Walsh asked.
“Because the transfer may not have been treated as a sheriff's department matter. If it was authorized through the county commissioner's office, the paperwork might have been filed as an administrative record.”
“That's possible,” Walsh replied. “But we won't assume the documents are still there.”
Thomas nodded.
“Michael told me there was a secondary archive. He thought the original transfer receipt might have been placed among property acquisition records rather than in the case file.”
Evelyn looked at Walsh.
“Can your team secure the relevant archive?”
“We can begin the process, but we'll need to establish the precise records we're seeking and obtain the appropriate authorization. If we have a reasonable basis to believe evidence is being concealed or destroyed, we'll move quickly.”