Chapter 13: The Original Testimony
Emily couldn't sleep.
Jonathan's final words echoed through her mind.
"It's about the testimony I gave thirty-two years ago."
Not money.
Not inheritance.
Not the Carter family fortune.
Everything had started with a courtroom.
At three-thirty in the morning, Detective Marcus Bennett sat at his kitchen table surrounded by legal books, old court records, and photocopies of Jonathan Carter's journals.
Although he had been placed on administrative leave, Captain Rebecca Morales had quietly given him access to archived public records.
"If this stays off the official books," she had said, "I never saw you."
Bennett appreciated the risk she was taking.
"So," Emily asked, "what happened thirty-two years ago?"
He slid an old newspaper across the table.
The headline read:
FEDERAL CORRUPTION TRIAL OPENS IN CHICAGO
The article was dated May 1994.
Jonathan Carter wasn't the defendant.
He was the government's star witness.
Emily frowned.
"My grandfather testified in a federal corruption case?"
"It appears so."
"Against whom?"
Bennett shook his head.
"That's the strange part."
Every name connected to the trial had been blacked out in the archived copy.
Court order.
National security exemption.
Witness protection.
Nothing about the case was ordinary.
Later that morning, Natalie Brooks arrived carrying a thick banker's box.
"I went through every file my father left behind."
She placed the box on the dining room table.
"I think Jonathan trusted him."
Emily carefully opened it.
Inside were dozens of cassette tapes, financial ledgers, and handwritten notebooks.
Near the bottom sat a faded manila envelope marked:
Federal Exhibit Copies
Bennett opened it carefully.
Most of the documents were ordinary accounting records.
Then he found something unusual.
A witness schedule.
Several names had been redacted with black ink.
Only one remained visible.
Jonathan Carter
The date matched the newspaper article.
May 18, 1994.
Emily looked at the attached note.
Her grandmother had written in the margin:
Truth costs more than lies.
Meanwhile...
Inside the abandoned factory, Diane Carter remained tied to the chair.
She had refused food.
She had refused water.
Most importantly...
She had refused to answer questions.
The shadowy man entered carrying a small recorder.
"I admire your loyalty."
Diane stared back.
"You don't know the meaning of loyalty."
He smiled.
"I know enough."
He placed the recorder on the table.
A child's voice filled the room.
"Mommy?"
Sophie's voice.
Diane's heart nearly stopped.
"What have you done?"
The man calmly stopped the recording.
"Nothing."
"Yet."
"It was taken from one of the hospital security cameras."
Diane closed her eyes in relief.
"You leave that little girl alone."
"That depends."
He leaned closer.
"Where did Jonathan hide the testimony?"
"I don't know."
"You've had fifteen years to think of a better lie."
"It's the truth."
The man stood silently for several seconds.
Finally, he nodded toward one of his guards.
"Take a break."
The guard looked confused.
"Sir?"
"Leave us."
After the guard exited, the stranger slowly removed his black gloves.
Then he lowered the hood covering his face.
Diane gasped.
"You..."
She recognized him immediately.
"I thought you were dead."
The man smiled sadly.
"That's what Jonathan believed too."
Back in Chicago...
Captain Morales entered Bennett's apartment carrying a sealed evidence envelope.
"I shouldn't be here."
Bennett smiled.
"Then why are you?"
"Because Internal Affairs finished reviewing the fake DNA evidence."
Emily leaned forward.
"And?"
Morales handed Bennett a report.
"The blood on Jonathan's apartment counter belonged to Jonathan."
"We knew that."
"The second sample wasn't yours."
Bennett frowned.
"But the report—"
"It was altered."
Emily looked shocked.
"Someone changed the lab results?"
Morales nodded.
"The original DNA profile belongs to another detective."
"Who?"
Morales took a deep breath.
"Detective Steven Hale."
Bennett's expression changed instantly.
"Hale retired eight years ago."
"So why was his DNA in Jonathan's apartment?"
"Because," Morales replied quietly, "Steven Hale was Jonathan Carter's police contact during witness protection."
Emily stared.
"My grandfather had a detective protecting him?"
"For years."
Bennett looked thoughtful.
"If Hale's DNA was planted..."
"...then someone is systematically erasing everyone connected to Jonathan."
That afternoon, forensic specialists finally succeeded in restoring data from one of Preston's encrypted hard drives.
Most files contained financial records.
One folder stood apart.
Its title read:
Library Access
Inside was a scanned blueprint.
Emily studied it carefully.
"It looks like an underground building."
Bennett nodded.
"There are tunnels."
Hidden entrances.
Emergency exits.
Storage vaults.
At the center was one large circular room.
Labeled simply:
Archive Chamber
Natalie pointed toward the lower corner of the blueprint.
"There."
Emily followed her finger.
A handwritten note had been added later.
Original testimony stored beneath Founder Statue.
Silence filled the room.
Emily whispered,
"The testimony still exists."
Bennett immediately stood.
"If the blueprint is real, we know where they're going."
His phone rang before he reached the door.
The caller ID displayed only one name.
Jonathan Carter.
Bennett answered.
"Jonathan?"
The elderly man's voice sounded weaker than before.
"They found the library."
Emily's heart pounded.
"What?"
Jonathan coughed heavily.
"They're already inside."
Bennett grabbed his keys.
"Stay where you are."
"No."
"They've set explosives."
The room went silent.
Jonathan continued.
"If they destroy the Archive Chamber..."
"...the testimony disappears forever."
A loud explosion echoed through the phone.
Concrete cracked.
Metal groaned.
Then Jonathan shouted only three words before the line went dead.
"They're here now!"
The call disconnected.
Emily was already running for the door.
May you like
For the first time in thirty-two years...
The race for the truth had become a race against time.
