Chapter 14 - Smoke
Thomas did not enter the basement.
Daniel Cho had been explicit.
If something criminal happened, preserve evidence and call police.
So Thomas called 911.
Claire called the alarm company.
Within six minutes, two patrol cars arrived.
The rear door was open.
The intruder was gone.
There was no fire.
But there was smoke.
A metal trash can in the basement contained partially burned papers.
The flames had apparently been extinguished before spreading, possibly because the intruder heard the responding vehicles.
Thomas stood at the top of the stairs while firefighters ventilated the room.
A police officer named Denise Walker approached him.
“Do you know what was burned?”
“Not yet.”
“Who has access?”
Thomas gave her the names.
“Any reason someone would target records?”
“Yes.”
That answer led to a much longer conversation.
Thomas explained the audit.
The suspected forged approvals.
The vendor scheme.
Grant’s suspension.
The copied key.
Officer Walker listened without interrupting.
“Do you have evidence connecting Mr. Doyle to tonight?”
“No.”
“Then don’t assume.”
Thomas nodded.
Claire appreciated the reminder.
A copied key did not prove who used it.
When investigators allowed them downstairs, Claire found the cabinet open.
Old vendor contracts were scattered across the floor.
Payroll ledgers from 2019 through 2022 were untouched.
A box marked 2023 MANAGEMENT was missing.
Thomas cursed.
Then Eli’s voice came from the stairs.
“What happened?”
Thomas turned.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“Maya texted.”
Claire stepped between them.
“Eli, police are working. Stay upstairs.”
He looked toward the burned papers.
“Did someone burn stuff?”
“Yes.”
Eli frowned.
“That box wasn’t there yesterday.”
Claire froze.
“What?”
He pointed to the empty shelf.
“The missing one.”
“How do you know?”
“I cleaned basement Tuesday.”
Thomas and Claire exchanged a look.
“Where was it?”
Eli walked carefully to the shelf.
“Here.”
“What was inside?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you move it?”
“No.”
“Did anyone?”
Eli thought.
“Grant did.”
Claire’s pulse quickened.
“When?”
“January.”
“The day Caleb was here?”
“No. Later.”
Eli opened his notebook.
February 2.
Grant had asked him to bring a storage box upstairs.
“Where did you take it?”
“Office.”
“Then?”
“Grant said leave.”
Thomas looked at Claire.
If Grant had already removed the box months ago, tonight’s intruder might have been looking for something else.
Claire scanned the shelves.
A thin space caught her attention.
“What was here?”
Eli looked.
“Blue binder.”
“What blue binder?”
“Old employee book.”
Thomas remembered.
His father had kept handwritten manager logs for decades.
After his father died, Thomas continued the habit until the restaurant digitized operations.
The blue binder covered 2018 through 2020.
“Why would anyone want that?”
Eli shrugged.
Then he said, “Grant borrowed it before.”
“When?”
“Last summer.”
Thomas stared.
“Why?”
“He said he needed old signatures.”
Claire’s head snapped toward her father.
“Old signatures?”
Thomas felt cold.
The forged severance agreement.
The forged vendor approvals.
His signature appeared convincingly on all of them.
If Grant had wanted examples to copy, the management binder contained hundreds.
Officer Walker joined them.
Claire explained.
The officer took notes.
“Do you have any evidence the binder was here before tonight?”
Thomas looked helpless.
Then Eli raised his notebook.
“I wrote it.”
Everyone turned.
He flipped to Tuesday’s cleaning entry.
Basement shelves dusted. Blue manager binder, top left, leave for Mr. Thomas.
Claire stared.
“Why did you write that?”
“Thomas told me not to throw away anything with his name.”
Thomas looked at Eli.
Again.
A tiny detail.
Recorded because Eli followed instructions literally.
Officer Walker photographed the page.
“This could help establish that the binder was present recently.”
Eli nodded.
“Paper remembers.”
Thomas looked away for a moment.
Outside, another patrol officer called Walker.
They had found something behind the restaurant.
A black nitrile glove.
And beside it, a torn piece of paper.
Claire leaned closer as Walker bagged it.
Only part of a sentence remained visible.
…authorize Grant Doyle to negotiate…
May you like
Thomas’s signature appeared underneath.
Or something designed to look exactly like it.
