Chapter 20 - The Witness Who Changed Sides
Mason was questioned but released while investigators continued building their case.
Three days later, someone knocked on Nora’s door after midnight.
It was Owen Price, the contractor who had visited Lily’s school.
He kept both hands visible.
“I need to speak with you.”
Nora did not open the door.
“You can speak through the camera.”
Owen glanced toward the street.
“Mason ordered me to remove something from your house.”
“What?”
“A blue folder.”
Nora had never seen one.
“He said it was hidden beneath the nursery floor.”
Nora’s heartbeat accelerated.
“Why are you telling me?”
“Because Meridian blamed me for the school incident. They terminated my contract and told investigators I acted alone.”
“That doesn’t make you innocent.”
“I know.”
Owen explained that Mason had instructed him to enter the house during the planning hearing. Owen had refused after learning Lily might be inside.
He handed Nora a flash drive through the mail slot.
It contained messages, payment instructions, and recordings Owen had secretly saved.
One recording captured Mason speaking with Meridian’s chief executive after the hearing.
The executive ordered Mason to find the blue folder before law enforcement searched Nora’s home.
“If she opens it,” the executive said, “the entire company collapses.”
Nora contacted Priya and the police.
Officers searched beneath the nursery floor while Nora and Lily waited safely at Evelyn’s house.
Under a loose board, they discovered a narrow metal case.
Inside was the blue folder.
The first page contained a list of payments.
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The final page contained Ethan’s handwritten note.
Mason is not the person in charge.
