CHAPTER 4 — THE WITNESS THEY TRIED TO SILENCE
Arthur returned to the diner the following morning.
Emily was cleaning the counter.
She recognized him immediately.
“How’s your dog?”
Arthur smiled.
“Still better behaved than most people.”
She laughed.
Then Arthur became serious.
“Emily, I need to ask you something.”
“About Mason?”
“Yes.”
She glanced toward the office.
“The owner told me not to get involved.”
“Did he say why?”
“He said Mason’s family owns the building.”
Arthur nodded.
“I understand.”
Emily hesitated.
Then she reached beneath the counter.
“I copied the camera footage.”
Arthur looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because Officer Keller came back yesterday.”
Arthur’s expression changed.
“What did he want?”
“He asked the owner how long we keep recordings.”
“What did the owner say?”
“Thirty days.”
Arthur waited.
Emily continued.
“Then Keller said there was no reason to preserve something so minor.”
Arthur looked toward the camera.
“Did the owner agree?”
“He told Keller he’d follow the normal retention schedule.”
Arthur understood.
Nobody had ordered the footage destroyed.
But if everyone waited long enough, it would disappear automatically.
“Does the owner know you made a copy?”
“Yes. I told him.”
“Good. Keep the original file. Don’t change it.”
Emily studied him.
“You really think this is about more than the dog?”
Arthur looked toward Titan.
“Twelve years ago, my son disappeared in a building owned by Mason’s father.”
Emily’s expression softened.
“I remember that.”
“Officer Keller handled part of the investigation.”
She frowned.
“What does that have to do with yesterday?”
Arthur looked at the USB drive.
“I don’t know yet.”
He left without taking it.
He asked Emily to preserve the footage and provide it directly to investigators if requested.
That afternoon, Mason returned.
Arthur wasn’t there.
Emily was serving coffee when the biker walked in.
He sat at the same counter.
“Where’s your boyfriend?”
Emily ignored him.
Mason smiled.
“The old guy. With the dog.”
“I don’t know.”
Mason leaned forward.
“My father says you’re making trouble.”
Emily continued wiping the counter.
“I served coffee. That’s all.”
“Then why are people saying you saved a video?”
Emily stopped.
Mason noticed.
“There it is.”
He reached for her wrist.
She pulled away.
“Don’t touch me.”
Several customers turned.
Mason released her.
Then he leaned closer.
“Tell your boss that camera better not become a problem.”
Emily looked directly at him.
“Get out.”
Mason laughed.
“You don’t own this place.”
“No,” she said. “But I work here.”
The owner emerged from the kitchen.
He told Mason to leave.
Mason stood.
As he walked toward the door, he looked back.
“You people have no idea who you’re messing with.”
That evening, Emily called Arthur.
She told him everything.
Arthur listened without interrupting.
Then he asked whether the diner had recorded Mason’s return.
“Yes.”
“Preserve that footage, too.”
“Arthur, I’m scared.”
He understood.
She hadn’t asked to become part of a twelve-year-old investigation.
She had simply refused to lie about what happened to a dog.
“You don’t have to confront him again,” Arthur said. “Tell the owner what happened, and report the threat.”
Emily was quiet.
Then she asked:
“Do you think Mason knows what happened to David?”
Arthur looked at the documents spread across his table.
“I think his father knows something.”
“And Mason?”
Arthur remembered the biker’s face when he mentioned David’s name.
“I think Mason knows enough to be afraid of what I might find.”
The following morning, Arthur received a call from the state investigative office.
A woman introduced herself as Sarah Bennett.
“Mr. Kane, we’ve received your request to review the Rourke Center case.”
Arthur stood.
“Have you read the documents?”
“Yes.”
“Is there enough to reopen it?”
“We need to verify several things first.”
Arthur waited.
Bennett continued.
“But I have a question about the rescue dog.”
Arthur looked toward Titan.
“What about him?”
“Was he wearing a harness when he came out?”
“Yes.”
“Did you receive that harness afterward?”
Arthur thought back.
The firefighters had returned David’s pouch.
His watch.
A few personal belongings.
But not the harness.
“No.”
Bennett paused.
“According to the county inventory, Officer Keller signed a receipt stating that he returned it to you.”
END OF CHAPTER 4
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