Chapter 10 - THE FILE MARKED 4-17-9
The file contained a ledger.
Not a medical record.
Not a patient history.
A financial register.
Names.
Dates.
Payments.
Transfers.
The entries documented years of illicit arrangements involving children, witnesses, and falsified guardianship records.
Several names belonged to people who had died.
Others belonged to prominent businessmen and attorneys.
Dominic's father appeared repeatedly.
So did Eleanor Voss.
But the most shocking entry was dated twelve years earlier.
It recorded a payment for the transfer of Adrian Vale.
The recipient was listed as:
E. VOSS – PERSONAL CUSTODY.
Dominic stared at the document.
“My father paid her to take Adrian.”
I sat beside him.
“Why?”
He shook his head.
“I don't know.”
The file contained a handwritten note.
Subject refused cooperation. Continued retention authorized.
Dominic read it aloud.
Then looked at me.
“Adrian refused to sign something.”
I remembered what he'd told me before the fire.
His father wanted him to sign a statement about a shipment.
The investigators traced the payment records.
They found a series of transfers to a private residential property in Maine.
The property was registered under the name Adam Voss.
Dominic looked at the address.
“That's where he went.”
I hesitated.
“Maybe.”
He turned toward me.
“You think he's still there?”
“I don't know.”
For the first time, Dominic didn't demand certainty.
He simply nodded.
The following morning, investigators traveled to Maine.
They found a modest house near the coast.
A vegetable garden.
A workshop.
A small library.
And a man sitting on the porch.
He was thirty-nine.
His hair was dark.
His face carried scars from an old injury.
When the investigators asked his name, he answered:
“Adam.”
Then they showed him a photograph of Dominic.
The man's expression changed.
May you like
He stood slowly.
“That's my brother.”
