Chapter 11 - The Deal in the Office
Paul stopped helping Vanessa when he understood she wasn’t going to help him.
That was how Detective Cole explained it.
Not in those exact words.
Her version involved evidence, separate interviews, and statements made through counsel.
Mine was shorter.
A coward had finally realized he was standing alone.
Two weeks after the restaurant incident, Cole asked me to come in again.
June came with me.
Ethan arrived separately.
The detective laid a printed message on the table.
Vanessa had sent it to Paul three days before dinner.
I NEED PRIVACY. NO RECORDING AT OUR TABLE.
Underneath was his reply.
Private room is booked. I can arrange the corner.
Then another message from her.
AND IF THERE’S A SCENE, YOU HANDLE YOUR STAFF.
“What scene?” Ethan asked.
Cole folded her hands.
“Paul says she expected an argument about the engagement. He claims he didn’t know she would endanger Oliver.”
“Do you believe him?” I asked.
“I believe he has reasons to minimize what he knew.”
There had been a payment.
Ten thousand dollars transferred to a business account Paul controlled.
He said it covered a private event package.
The restaurant had no such package.
There were more messages after the incident.
DELETE IT.
Then:
THE GIRL IS A PROBLEM.
Then Paul’s reply:
I CAN DEAL WITH HER.
I stared at those words.
My name wasn’t there.
Not even waitress.
The girl.
A problem to be dealt with.
Ethan pushed back from the table.
“I brought her into my house.”
Cole let the silence sit.
Then she said, “The evidence shows what she did. It doesn’t show you knew.”
“I should have.”
“That’s different.”
He didn’t answer.
The detective explained that the restaurant owner had turned over payroll records, emails, and access logs.
My supposed theft was now documented as a wage advance.
Miguel’s mother was back at work.
Paul faced his own charges related to evidence and the cash in Miguel’s locker.
There would be no quick ending.
No single speech that made everyone believe us.
But there was a trail now.
And it led somewhere.
As we stood to leave, Cole stopped Ethan.
“There’s one more thing you need to see.”
She turned a page.
It was a message Vanessa had sent a friend several weeks before the restaurant.
I DIDN’T SIGN UP TO RAISE CLAIRE’S GHOST.
Ethan read it twice.
May you like
Then he sat back down.
For the first time since I had met him, he began to cry.
