Chapter 9 - THE TRUTH BENEATH THE WATER
The breakthrough came from an old warehouse employee named Henry Cole.
Henry had worked the night Samuel died.
He had been afraid to speak for four years.
Now, with investigators reopening the case, he finally came forward.
He described seeing two men enter the machinery room shortly before the accident.
One carried a toolbox.
The other wore a security badge.
Henry recognized the security guard.
His name was Martin Voss.
Voss had worked for Victor Valerio.
He had disappeared from Pittsburgh shortly after Samuel's death.
Investigators located him in another state.
When questioned, Voss initially denied involvement.
But the shipping records and witness testimony contradicted his story.
Eventually, he admitted helping sabotage the machinery.
He claimed he'd been ordered to frighten Samuel, not kill him.
The person who gave the order was a senior operations manager named Conrad Hale.
Hale had controlled several illegal shipping routes.
Samuel's discovery threatened to expose the operation.
So Hale arranged the sabotage.
The investigation revealed that Victor Valerio had known about the illegal shipments, although evidence of his knowledge of the specific attack remained uncertain.
Dante learned the truth in his attorney's office.
He sat silently.
Then asked:
"Does Rosie know?"
Evelyn nodded.
"She's been informed."
Dante looked down.
For years, he'd believed Samuel's death was an accident.
Then he'd suspected something worse.
Now the truth was undeniable.
A good man had died because he'd refused to remain silent.
And Dante had spent years living comfortably inside the empire that helped make it possible.
He closed his eyes.
May you like
Then said:
"Tell the investigators I'll testify."
