Chapter 34: A Call From Grant
Grant called me from an unfamiliar number at 7:42 on a Tuesday evening.
I recognized his voice immediately.
“Mara, we need to talk like adults,” he said.
I told him to contact Naomi and ended the call.
He called again.
This time I let it go to voicemail.
His message lasted nearly three minutes.
He described himself as a scapegoat for a development company that had benefited from his work.
He said Judith had misunderstood the demonstration.
He claimed that everyone had once agreed the neighborhood needed better flood protection.
Then his tone changed.
“You don’t know what Arthur’s records really say,” he told the recording.
“If the whole thing comes out, people you trust will get hurt.”
I forwarded the voicemail to Naomi and Brooks.
Naomi advised me not to respond.
She also sent Grant’s attorney a written reminder that all contact should go through counsel.
The next day, Grant’s attorney claimed that his client had called during a stressful personal dispute and did not intend intimidation.
I did not need to settle the question of his private intention.
The call had frightened me, and its timing mattered.
The state agency was preparing to review the old testing files.
Evelyn Trent had provided a work order.
Hearthline had terminated his contract.
Judith was speaking openly.
Grant had lost the power to decide what each person knew.
He was now trying to discover what could still be used to control them.
I told Daniel I feared he might have another document we had not seen.
Daniel asked whether that possibility justified abandoning the process.
“No,” I said.
“Then keep making decisions from what you can prove,” he answered.
It was simple advice.
It was difficult to practice while fear invented a hundred different endings.
Chapter 35: The Source of the Green Handle
The courier service eventually provided information about the package that contained Arthur’s broken case handle.
The shipment had been purchased through a prepaid business account.
The account was linked to a local print shop that also handled mailing services.
A clerk remembered accepting a small sealed parcel from a customer but could not identify the person reliably.
Security footage from that afternoon had been retained.
Investigators reviewed it without publicly releasing the images.
Later, Brooks told Judith that the package inquiry had generated useful information, although she could not discuss specifics.
I had hoped the sender would turn out to be Leonard,
offering a crude warning about the missing notebook.
He denied sending anything.
Claire also denied it.
No one I knew claimed responsibility.
The uncertainty lasted until Evelyn Trent contacted Naomi again.
She had found a work order directing an assistant to dispose of several old archival folders after a client meeting.
Attached to the work order was a photograph of a broken green case.
The picture was taken in Mercer Property Advisory’s office.
The file date fell between Grant’s last visit to Judith and the arrival of the anonymous package.
Evelyn did not know who sent the handle.
She could establish that the case had been inside Grant’s workplace.
That distinction was enough to narrow the investigation.
Naomi forwarded the record to Brooks and the appropriate reviewers.
Judith sat silently when Claire showed her the photograph.
“He took Arthur’s things into his office,” she said.
“He told me he was going to protect them.”
She looked at me.
“I let him into our house.”
I had no answer that could undo her regret.
I reminded her that she had revoked access and helped recover the evidence.
She nodded without looking convinced.
Sometimes responsibility means accepting that an apology cannot repair every consequence.
The important question is what a person does after understanding the harm.
Judith continued cooperating.
She also began helping Claire organize the remaining papers in Arthur’s name rather than in Grant’s shadow.
