Chapter 8 - THE NIGHT THE WAREHOUSE BURNED
The new evidence changed the investigation.
Eleanor submitted the records to the appropriate authorities.
The original fire report was reviewed.
Investigators examined the warehouse's electrical records, insurance documents, and shipping manifests.
Sofia Marin provided a formal statement.
She explained that Bellmont had arranged to move the collection to a private storage facility under a temporary consignment agreement.
But she had never seen a signed consignment contract from my father.
Instead, she had been told to record the pieces as company property.
I listened to her testimony.
Then asked:
“Did my father know?”
Sofia looked down.
“I don't think so.”
My chest tightened.
She continued.
“I remember him calling the office after the fire. He was desperate to know whether any pieces had survived.”
I closed my eyes.
“He was told they were destroyed.”
Sofia nodded.
“Yes.”
I thought of my father sitting at our kitchen table, staring at photographs of the lost collection.
He had believed his life's work was gone.
And someone had allowed him to believe it.
I looked toward Eleanor.
“What happens now?”
She spoke carefully.
“We continue establishing ownership and whether the records support civil or criminal claims.”
I nodded.
May you like
For the first time, I understood that recovering the crystal was only part of what I wanted.
I wanted the truth about what had happened to my father.
