Chapter 5 - The Man Who Saw Arthur Alive
Daniel opened the door two inches.
Richard Sterling stood in the rain.
Beside him was a thin man in his sixties wearing a weathered canvas jacket.
No guards.
No assistants.
No Eleanor.
Richard lifted both hands.
"I'm unarmed."
Daniel stared past him.
"Where's your car?"
"Down the road."
"Who knows you're here?"
"Nobody I trust."
Daniel laughed bitterly.
"That's a short list."
Richard looked at Leo through the doorway.
His face changed.
"Please."
Leo stayed behind Clara.
Clara noticed.
Richard noticed too.
That hurt him.
Good.
Maybe it should.
They let them inside.
The stranger removed his wet cap.
"My name is Samuel Ortiz."
Leo watched him.
"You worked on my dad's helicopter?"
Samuel nodded.
"I did."
"Did you kill him?"
The question stunned everyone.
Samuel's eyes filled immediately.
"No."
Leo didn't move.
"Then tell me what happened."
Samuel sat slowly.
"I was chief mechanic for the Sterling aviation unit."
He looked toward Richard.
"Arthur's helicopter was scheduled for a routine inspection the morning before the crash."
"I found damage to the fuel-control linkage."
Daniel frowned.
"Accidental?"
Samuel shook his head.
"Not possible."
"The retaining pin had been removed."
"Cleanly."
"Deliberately."
Clara looked at Richard.
"What did you do?"
"I grounded the aircraft."
Samuel continued.
"Arthur was told."
"He canceled the flight."
"Then Graham Pike came to the hangar around seven that evening."
"He had an authorization signed by Richard."
Richard closed his eyes.
Leo stared at him.
"You signed it."
Richard nodded.
"I signed a movement authorization."
Samuel looked at him.
"You signed permission to return the aircraft to service."
Richard's face tightened.
"I was told the defect had been corrected."
"By Graham?"
"By Eleanor."
Clara crossed her arms.
"And you believed her."
Richard looked at Leo.
"Yes."
Leo looked away.
Samuel continued.
"I refused to release the helicopter."
"So Graham called another technician."
"A contract worker."
"By nine thirty, the aircraft was cleared."
Daniel leaned forward.
"What happened to you?"
"I went home."
Samuel paused.
"At eleven twelve, Arthur called me."
Leo's eyes lifted.
"What did he say?"
Samuel's voice softened.
"He said he was at the estate."
"He sounded scared."
"He asked if I had personally cleared the aircraft."
"I told him no."
"He said, 'Then somebody is trying to get me in that helicopter.'"
Clara felt cold.
"What happened next?"
"I told him not to board."
"He said he wouldn't."
Samuel looked at Leo.
"Then he said he was driving out."
Leo frowned.
"But he died in the helicopter."
Samuel nodded.
"That's what never made sense."
Daniel stood.
"Wait."
He paced once.
"The official report said Arthur boarded at the private pad."
"Correct."
"Passenger manifest?"
"Arthur Sterling plus pilot."
"Body identification?"
Richard answered.
"Dental records."
Daniel turned.
"Who handled them?"
Richard went silent.
Samuel said, "Sterling security."
Everyone looked at Graham's name without saying it.
Clara's heart began pounding.
"Are you saying Arthur may not have been in the helicopter?"
Richard looked at her.
"I've wondered that for eleven years."
Leo stood too quickly.
Pain shot through his ankle.
Clara caught him.
"What does that mean?"
Nobody answered fast enough.
Leo looked from face to face.
"Is my dad alive?"
Richard's eyes filled with tears.
"I don't know."
Leo stared at him.
"That's not an answer."
"No."
Richard swallowed.
"It isn't."
Samuel reached inside his jacket.
He removed a small plastic evidence bag.
Inside was a damaged phone.
"I kept this."
Daniel frowned.
"What is it?"
"Arthur's."
Leo stopped breathing.
Samuel placed it on the table.
"I found it beside the service road two days after the crash."
"Not near the helicopter site."
"Near the estate."
Clara stared at the phone.
"Why didn't you turn it in?"
"I did."
"To whom?"
"Graham Pike."
Daniel cursed.
Samuel nodded.
"He told me it wasn't Arthur's."
"Then he threatened my wife."
"So I lied."
"I told him I'd destroyed it."
Richard looked furious.
"You kept this for eleven years?"
Samuel turned on him.
"I kept my family alive."
Richard had no answer.
Daniel examined the phone.
"The memory might still be recoverable."
Clara looked at Leo.
His entire body was tense.
Hope was dangerous now.
She could see it happening.
"Leo."
He looked at her.
"Whatever is on that phone, we don't know what it means yet."
"But he might be alive."
"He might."
"Then we find him."
Richard closed his eyes.
Leo saw.
"What?"
Richard said nothing.
"Grandpa."
Richard finally looked at him.
"Three months after the crash, I received a letter."
Daniel froze.
"What letter?"
Richard walked toward the window.
"It had no return address."
"The handwriting looked like Arthur's."
Leo's face changed.
"What did it say?"
Richard's voice broke.
"Leave Leo where he is."
"Do not search for me."
"If you involve the police, he dies."
Clara stared.
"And you obeyed?"
"I thought Arthur had been kidnapped."
"Then why didn't you tell anyone?"
"I hired private investigators."
"Quietly."
"Every lead disappeared."
"Two investigators quit."
"One vanished."
Daniel looked disgusted.
"And you still left Leo with Eleanor."
Richard turned.
"That was the worst mistake of my life."
Leo stepped away from Clara.
"You thought somebody might kill me."
Richard looked at him.
"Yes."
"And you left me in that house."
"I believed security was safest there."
"Graham was security!"
"I didn't know."
Leo's voice rose.
"You never knew anything!"
Richard flinched.
"You never knew I ate alone."
"You never knew she called me a burden."
"You never knew she made me sign papers."
Richard stared at him.
"What papers?"
"Don't."
Leo's eyes filled.
"Don't act surprised now."
Richard stepped closer.
Leo backed away.
That stopped him.
Clara watched the realization strike.
Richard Sterling could command thousands of employees.
He could move oil markets.
He could purchase politicians, buildings, companies.
But his grandson was afraid when he moved closer.
Richard sat down.
Not beside Leo.
Across the room.
"I'm sorry."
Leo wiped his face.
"Sorry doesn't fix eleven years."
"No."
Richard nodded.
"It doesn't."
Daniel broke the silence.
"We need that phone opened."
Samuel knew someone.
A retired digital forensics examiner named Maya Chen.
She lived forty minutes away.
They drove there before dark.
Maya worked from a converted workshop behind her home.
She asked no unnecessary questions.
Daniel apparently had that effect on people.
The phone was badly damaged.
But not destroyed.
After three hours, Maya recovered partial data.
Voice messages.
Photos.
Location records.
One video.
Date stamped twelve minutes before the helicopter took off.
Arthur appeared inside a car.
Breathing hard.
Blood covered the side of his face.
Leo gripped Clara's hand.
Arthur looked over his shoulder.
"They know."
He whispered.
"Eleanor knows I copied everything."
"Graham has the gate locked."
"I can't reach Daniel."
The camera shook.
Then Arthur looked directly into it.
"If I don't get out, Leo cannot stay here."
A sound came from outside the car.
Arthur ducked.
"They're coming."
The video jumped.
Static.
Then one final image.
A man's reflection appeared briefly in the rear window.
Maya froze the frame.
Clara leaned closer.
Richard stopped breathing.
It wasn't Graham.
It wasn't Eleanor.
The man was older.
Gray hair.
Heavy build.
Daniel whispered,
"Who is that?"
Richard stared at the screen.
"I know him."
Leo looked at his grandfather.
"Who?"
Richard's voice became barely audible.
"My brother."
Clara frowned.
"I thought you didn't have a brother."
May you like
Richard looked at her.
"Officially, I don't."
