Chapter 5 - THE DRAWING BENEATH THE DEPOT CHAIR.
State investigators traced the call to a freight depot outside town.
Sheriff Price insisted the signal was too weak to prove Alice was there.
Ethan asked why the depot’s security contract belonged to Whitmore Motor Club.
Price had no answer.
Lucy remembered hearing a train horn after the dark car crossed the bridge. Her statement matched the phone data.
At the depot, investigators found a private children’s lounge with blankets, water and locked file cabinets—but no children.
The files listed scholarship recipients as “temporary dependents.” Wealthy donors received authority over medical care, housing trusts and legal settlements.
Alice’s name appeared at the top.
Mayor Charles Whitmore had filed an emergency petition claiming Ethan was too unstable to protect her. The hearing was scheduled before Ethan had even been notified.
Maria found a drawing beneath a chair: the bakery, the bridge and three figures holding hands.
Behind them stood a man wearing a sheriff’s star.
Price reached for it.
May you like
A state investigator stopped him.
“Sheriff, place your hands where I can see them.”
