Then Bellweather announced a restructuring.
The announcement came on a Monday morning.
The archive department would be modernized.
Paper records would be digitized.
Several positions would be eliminated.
Maggie would be transferred to reception.
Daniel delivered the news.
“You'll start Wednesday.”
Maggie looked at the letter.
“Why reception?”
“Because your archive position is changing.”
“Who will take over?”
“An outside contractor.”
“Why?”
“Efficiency.”
Maggie nodded.
“I see.”
Daniel smiled.
“It's nothing personal.”
Maggie looked at him.
“Of course.”
He walked away.
She watched him go.
Then she returned to the archive.
She knew exactly why they were moving her.
They had finally realized that the quiet woman in the basement was asking too many questions.
But they had made a mistake.
They had waited too long.
Maggie had already copied the most important documents.
She had already memorized the file locations.
And Sarah already knew what she had found.
That evening, Maggie drove home.
Her blue station wagon rattled slightly when she turned onto her street.
She parked in the driveway.
The house was quiet.
She unlocked the door.
Then she noticed something.
The kitchen window was open.
Maggie froze.
She always kept it closed.
She walked slowly through the house.
Nothing appeared missing.
The television was there.
The jewelry box was there.
Her purse was there.
But when she entered the bedroom, she knew.
The closet had been searched.
Boxes had been moved.
She checked the metal case.
Empty.
The notebook was gone.
Maggie stood perfectly still.
Then she smiled.
The notebook was a decoy.
The real records were hidden beneath the spare tire in her car.
She called Sarah.
“They came into my house.”
Sarah's voice became serious.
“What did they take?”
“The notebook.”
“What was in it?”
“Enough.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Stay there.”
Maggie looked through the window.
A car was parked across the street.
“I think they're still watching.”
Sarah arrived twenty minutes later.
The car disappeared before she got there.
Investigators examined the house.
They found fingerprints.
The person who entered had been careful.
But not careful enough.
The fingerprints belonged to a Bellweather security contractor.
The contractor was questioned.
At first, he denied everything.
Then investigators showed him the evidence.
He confessed.
Daniel had ordered him to retrieve the notebook.
“Why?”
The contractor shook his head.
“I don't know.”
“Who else was involved?”
“I don't know.”
“Who paid you?”
“Daniel.”
The next morning, Daniel's phone records were subpoenaed.
Investigators found dozens of messages.
Some were ordinary.
Others were not.
One message read:
Get the old files.
Another:
Find out what she knows.
A third:
Make sure nothing leaves the building.
Daniel was arrested.
But Sarah told Maggie that the investigation was far from over.
“Daniel isn't the center of this.”
“Who is?”
“We don't know yet.”
Maggie thought about Martin.
Then Victor.
“Someone higher.”
Sarah nodded.
“Possibly.”