Chapter 8: The Person Arthur Trusted
The photograph changed everything.
Nia stared at the screen.
Her father.
Alive.
Standing outside the funeral chapel.
Hours before they were told he had died.
She couldn’t breathe.
Maya covered her mouth.
“That’s Dad.””
Nobody disagreed.
Because it was.
Arthur Carter.
The same face from the memorial video.
The same worried eyes.
The same man who had looked into the camera and warned them.
Nia looked at Veronica.
“Where did you get this?””
Veronica looked terrified.
“I didn’t.””
“Someone sent it to you.””
“Yes.””
“Who?””
“I don’t know.””
Marcus stepped closer.
“Show me the number.””
Veronica hesitated.
Then handed him the phone.
Marcus studied the screen.
“Blocked.””
Elaine looked at the picture.
“Arthur knew.””
Nia turned toward her.
“Knew what?””
Elaine looked heartbroken.
“That someone was following him.””
The words made Nia’s stomach tighten.
She looked toward the coffin.
“Why didn’t he tell us?””
Elaine’s voice softened.
“Because Arthur spent his whole life trying to protect his family.””
Nia shook her head.
“By lying to us?””
Nobody answered.
Because maybe that was the truth.
Marcus enlarged the image.
“There’s something strange.””
Everyone gathered around.
“What?””
He pointed.
“Look behind Arthur.””
Nia looked carefully.
At first, she saw only the building behind him.
Then she noticed.
A reflection in the glass window.
A person standing several feet away.
Watching Arthur.
Maya stepped back.
“Who is that?””
Marcus shook his head.
“The image quality isn’t enough.””
Harold looked nervous.
“That’s not the important part.””
Everyone looked at him.
Harold pointed at Arthur’s hand.
“He’s holding something.””
Nia looked closer.
A small object.
A phone.
Marcus nodded.
“He may have taken this picture himself.””
“What?””
Marcus looked at the screen.
“Arthur wasn’t photographed.””
He paused.
“He photographed someone else.””
The room went silent.
Nia felt a strange combination of fear and hope.
Her father had known something.
He had been collecting evidence.
The red folder.
The video.
The photograph.
Everything had been planned.
Marcus looked at Veronica.
“Why did this person send the picture to you?””
Veronica’s expression changed.
“I don’t know.””
Elaine looked at her.
“You do.””
Veronica glared.
“Stop pretending you understand everything.””
Elaine stepped forward.
“I understand more than you think.””
Nia looked between them.
“What happened between you two?””
Neither answered.
Marcus interrupted.
“We need to find the location connected to this key.””
He turned toward Harold.
“You said Arthur gave this to you.””
“Yes.””
“Did he say anything else?””
Harold looked down.
“He said the truth was hidden somewhere nobody would look.””
Nia frowned.
“What does that mean?””
Marcus looked around the chapel.
Then at the coffin.
Then the red folder.
“Arthur liked symbolism.””
Maya shook her head.
“Please tell me you have a better explanation than that.””
Marcus examined the key again.
“The old company storage facility was closed twenty years ago.””
Elaine nodded.
“But Arthur never destroyed it.””
Nia looked at her.
“Where is it?””
Elaine hesitated.
Then she whispered:
“Under the old Carter Industries building.””
Nia frowned.
“The building was sold.””
Elaine nodded.
“Yes.””
Marcus looked serious.
“Then the question is…”
He held up the key.
“Why would Arthur keep the key if the place no longer existed?””
Before anyone could answer, the chapel lights flickered.
Everyone looked up.
The bright room suddenly felt smaller.
Then the memorial screen turned on by itself.
Nia froze.
Nobody touched it.
Nobody was near it.
Static filled the screen.
Then Arthur appeared.
Not the funeral video.
A different recording.
He looked more frightened.
More exhausted.
He looked directly into the camera.
“Nia.””
Her heart stopped.
Her father was speaking to her.
“If you are seeing this, it means they found the folder.””
Maya grabbed her arm.
Marcus stared.
Arthur continued.
“There is something I need you to understand.””
He leaned closer.
“The person you trust most…”
The video glitched.
The sound distorted.
Then Arthur’s voice returned.
“…is the person who knows how to destroy everything.””
The screen went black.
Nobody moved.
Nia looked around the chapel.
At Veronica.
At Elaine.
At Marcus.
At Maya.
Everyone suddenly felt like a possibility.
A suspect.
Then a new sound came from the entrance.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
May you like
A man’s voice spoke from the doorway.
“Arthur should have burned that folder when he had the chance.””
