Chapter 8 - TWENTY-FOUR HOURS TO THE TRUTH
The anonymous account released the first clip at midnight.
It showed Roman entering the bookstore on the night Evelyn died, followed by a grainy image of him leaving with a leather case.
The caption claimed he had stolen the evidence, abandoned Evelyn, and later used his influence to bury the investigation.
By breakfast, the clip had been shared hundreds of thousands of times.
News outlets called it a potential scandal involving a prominent property empire. Commentators speculated about the De Luca family's criminal connections. Vanessa Hart, who had spent the previous day complaining that Elena's statement had ruined her reputation, suddenly returned to the center of the story.
She posted a video expressing concern for Evelyn Dawson's family.
“I hope the truth comes out,” Vanessa said solemnly. “Nobody should be allowed to use power to silence ordinary people.”
Claire watched the video once.
Then she turned it off.
“She hasn't changed,” she told Elena.
“No,” Elena replied. “But now she knows which side of the story is profitable.”
Roman's company suspended several senior executives while an independent investigation began. Banks froze certain transactions. Business partners withdrew from pending deals. The same people who had praised Roman's judgment the week before now insisted they had always questioned his leadership.
Roman did not ask Claire to defend him.
That surprised her.
He had become accustomed to handling every crisis personally, but this time he gave Rebecca the authority to release documents and allowed the investigators to question him without interference.
When Claire asked why, he answered simply.
“Because I don't get to choose the truth just because I don't like the consequences.”
For the first time, she believed he understood what she had been trying to tell him.
But the countdown continued.
Twenty hours.
Eighteen.
Sixteen.
Daniel Mercer worked through Evelyn's old legal files while Rebecca traced the forged debt documents. Claire returned to the bookstore with her grandmother's note and began searching the remaining fixtures.
The broken-spine novel had yielded the memory card. Perhaps Evelyn had hidden something else in the building.
At the rear of the shop, Claire found a narrow panel behind a shelf that had been fixed to the wall. The wood was newer than the surrounding boards. She loosened two screws and removed it.
Inside was a small metal box.
It contained a set of keys, a photograph, and a handwritten receipt from a storage facility on the outskirts of the city.
The photograph showed Evelyn beside a woman Claire didn't recognize. The woman wore a hospital uniform and held a newborn wrapped in a white blanket.
On the back, Evelyn had written:
She knows who authorized the transfer. If I'm gone, find her before Anthony does.
Claire called Rebecca.
The attorney traced the storage receipt to a facility that had changed owners several times. The unit had been closed after years of unpaid fees, but the records showed that the contents had been moved into a company archive shortly before the facility changed hands.
That archive belonged to Northbridge Holdings.
Anthony's company.
Before they could obtain a warrant, the anonymous account released another clip.
This time, Roman appeared to be speaking directly to Evelyn.
“You need to understand what happens if this gets out,” he said.
Evelyn answered, “Then let it get out.”
The clip ended.
The context was missing, but the words sounded damning.
Roman recognized the conversation.
“I told her the investigation would bring dangerous people after her. I was trying to persuade her to leave town until we had protection in place.”
“But the clip makes it sound like a threat,” Claire said.
“I know.”
“Can you prove the rest?”
“Not without the original file.”
Rebecca leaned forward.
“The account is releasing material selectively. Whoever controls it has access to the original recordings, or to a source who does.”
“Anthony,” Roman said.
“Possibly,” Rebecca replied. “But we can't assume he's the only person involved.”
At 4:00 p.m., the authorities obtained access to the storage archive. A team arrived at the building and found that several boxes connected to Evelyn's case had already been removed.
One box remained.
Inside was a sealed medical envelope bearing Evelyn's name and a date from the night she died.
The document indicated that she had been taken to a private clinic shortly before her death. The cause of death listed in the clinic's preliminary record differed from the public report.
It wasn't proof of murder.
But it was proof that the official timeline was incomplete.
Claire stared at the document.
“Who was the doctor?”
Rebecca read the name.
“Dr. Samuel Pierce.”
Roman recognized it.
“Pierce worked for my father. He handled medical emergencies for several senior employees.”
“Is he still alive?” Claire asked.
“Yes.”
“Then we ask him.”
Roman shook his head.
“He disappeared from the company records five years ago. I was told he had retired.”
Rebecca made a call.
Twenty minutes later, she received an address.
The doctor was living in a small house outside the city.
When they arrived, the curtains were drawn, and a handwritten notice was taped to the door.
DO NOT DISTURB.
Roman knocked.
No answer.
He knocked again.
A neighbor emerged from the next house.
“Looking for Samuel?” she asked. “He left this morning. Said someone had found him.”
“Who?” Rebecca asked.
The neighbor shook her head.
“He looked frightened. He told me if a young woman named Claire came asking questions, I should give her something.”
She handed Claire a small envelope.
Inside was a photograph of Evelyn lying in a hospital bed. Roman stood beside her, his face turned away from the camera.
On the back, the doctor had written:
She was alive when Roman brought her in.
Claire's knees weakened.
Beneath that sentence was another.
But she wasn't the only patient he brought that night.
Her phone vibrated.
The countdown reached zero.
May you like
A final message appeared.
THE LAST FILE IS LIVE.
