Chapter 99
Jonathan’s POV
Living Room – Raymond’s Townhouse – Dawn
The room fell into an eerie silence as I read the last line of Lori’s letter.
Raymond sat motionless as I placed the letter before him.
For fifteen years his mother was a thief in the eyes of the townspeople.
For fifteen years even though he knew his mother was innocent, he bore the stigma of being a thief’s son.
But my mind was elsewhere.
My perspective had changed.
Now I was no longer finding Adrian’s father,
Nor was I finding the evidence of how the donor operation went p>
I was finding evidence to prove Lori was innocent.
I looked at Vance as this was his domain.
“Vance,” I said. “Can you dig out some records p>
“I mean,” I said. “There has to be evidence of all this p>
“Maybe a trail or something where we can begin p>
“Don’t worry, Jonathan,” Vance said. “Let me check p>
Vance made a call.
“So, where can I get the records?” Vance asked on the phone.
As he disconnected the call,
“Vance,” I asked. “What’s the matter p>
“Well,” Vance said. “Nowadays, if I want to check a record, I’ll just go online and check the files p>
“But back then things weren’t digitalized p>
“And Livelane?” He said. “Was more back then the city p>
“Most of the city records are digitalized now, but here, it’s still on paper p>
“Most of the old records were ever uploaded, and some remained archived in the county storerooms p>
“Again most of the records are on paper, and probably some are in the sheriff’s office as well p>
“Livelane is a small town,” Raymond said.
“And the sheriff is known as a cooperative one p>
Just then Vance got a text message on his phone.
“Great,” he said. “Now we got a link p>
He picked his phone and made a call.
“Hello,” he said on the phone.
“Sheriff,” he said. “My name is Vance and I’m a high-court district lawyer. I need files related to a case named Lori p>
“Yes,” he said. “Sure I’ll be there soon. Thanks p>
“Fact,” Vance said. “Fifteen years back the sheriff was the law p>
“There was no courtroom p>
“Most of the cases were opened and closed by the sheriff p>
“The major ones would be handed over to the county authorities p>
“The sheriff would be the one who gathered evidence p>
“The county would process the charges p>
“The verdict was based on the evidence provided by the sheriff p>
“Everything was based on his, or a one man’s finding p>
“Raymond,” Vance asked. “What’s the matter? You seem tense p>
“The thing is,” Raymond said. “For years I thought the city court found Mom guilty p>
He trailed off.
“Now it seems it was based on what the sheriff gave the court p>
Certainty had begun to crack as Vance received the first batch of records related to Lori’s case.
Vance laid out the records.
“Okay,” he said. “So according to the sheriff’s report, he gave evidence Lori stole these p>
He placed a list of the retrieved items.
Twenty thousand dollars cash.JewelryConfidential documents of Harmon Designs.Gold bars.
“The list is no doubt impressive,” Vance said.
“Almost overwhelming to be true p>
“What do you mean by that?” Raymond asked as he was confused.
“Well,” Vance said. “These are the ownership records p>
“As you can see, there’s no valuation reports on the jewelry p>
“For that matter it could be only a dollar worth p>
“There’s no insurance claim p>
“No photographs of the items retrieved p>
“No ownership certificates of the gold bars, and jewelry p>
“There’s absolutely none of these, almost as if the items are only on paper p>
“It’s as if the inventory appeared a few hours before the investigation p>
“Are you saying these items never existed?” I asked, confused.
“According to the report, the case first moved towards an alleged missing cash p>
“A large amount around twenty thousand dollars went missing from Charles Freeway’s office p>
“But there’s no bank withdrawal, or any account entry p>
“No business record or tax declaration regarding the amount p>
“There’s absolutely nothing to support the missing amount p>
“Are you saying the accusation only exists on paper?” Raymond asked, shocked.
“So where did the money come and go p>
Daniel’s question was one that none of us had an answer to.
“And from all of these,” Vance said.
“The most absurd allegation is stealing gold bars p>
“Why would anyone keep gold bars out in the open p>
“And again,” he continued.
“No purchase records, no vault breakage report, no insurance, no photo, no witness, and no documentation whatsoever on them p>
“Apart from the list p>
“They’re not mentioned anywhere p>
“Why do I feel this case could collapse any moment?” Veronica’s question got our attention.
“Well.” Vance said. “If you’re saying without that list, Lori couldn’t have been convicted p>
“You’re absolutely right p>
“Raymond?” Veronica went over and placed her hand on his shoulder.
We all saw tears rolling down his cheeks.
“For fifteen years, I lived with the fact that Mom stole these things,” Raymond said.
“Even though I knew she didn’t, but they said the proof was solid p>
“For years I avoided contact with everyone and moved over to the border house p>
“I avoided questions related to Mom p>
“I avoided any relationships p>
“Now it seems all was fake p>
His voice was shaking.
“Why did no one dig deeper into Mom’s case p>
“Why did no one find the case odd p>
“Why has no one questioned the evidence found p>
For the first time since we came here in search of the basement,
I saw Raymond break down.
Veronica sat beside Raymond as he was emotional and needed support.
While, I reflected on everything Lori lost over the basement.
She lost a flourishing career.
Her reputation p>
Freedom p>
Her life p>
And most of all p>
Her son.
All the while protecting boys she would never meet again in her life.
I saw Daniel as silent.
And had been for a while.
I understood he was feeling the weight of a person’s sacrifice more than any of us as he was one of the boys.
That’s when I swore in my mind, I would clear Lori’s name in public.
“Guys come over,” Vance said as he placed a paper on the table.
“Look,” he said. “It’s the sheriff’s original report p>
“See here,” he said, pointing to the writing.
“It seems rushed p>
“The report is incomplete p>
“It’s poorly documented p>
“Several witness sections are left blank p>
“The evidence logs are not signed p>
“The more I read, the worse this report looks p>
“It’s as if the report was never meant to survive any scrutiny.” I said looking towards Vance, who nodded in agreement.
Just then Vance cleared the desk and placed a chart on it.
He was rebuilding Lori’s timeline.
He told us to get Lori’s notebooks.
Then wrote the clinic record dates.
Financial record dates.
Date of the sheriff’s records.
Every event was placed side by side.
Just then I noticed a pattern emerge.
Then suddenly p>
The theft date appeared.
And the time, all too precise to be a coincidence.
“Vance,” I asked. “Do you have the exact date p>
“Wait,” he said as he carefully compared the records.
Then he froze.
He checked them again and again.
“What’s the matter?” Raymond said as he noticed I and Vance were tense.
“Is something the matter p>
Vance slowly turned the page towards me.
I noticed the document contained information related to Lori’s final confrontation.
Then another page contained her arrest authorization.
The dates matched and the timing nearly matched.
“Did you see it?” Vance said.
“Oh my god,” I said in shock.
Silence fell in the room.
Vance placed both documents side by side.
“Did you find something?” John asked, concerned.
“Look,” I said pointing.
“This document shows Lori officially confronting Charles regarding the irregular medical records p>
“The witness statements confirm the meeting between them p>
“This is on Lori’s arrest, and it’s signed by the sheriff p>
“Approved immediately p>
Just then I placed my hand on the papers making everyone shocked.
My stomach tightened as I studied the timestamps.
They weren’t there for a few weeks p>
Or a few days p>
But a few hours.
Raymond stared at the documents as the color from his face drained out.
Daniel clenched his jaw.
The reason was p>
The implication was obvious.
Lori was never arrested after the investigation or discovery of the stolen items.
She was arrested right after she confronted the person she should never have.
The robbery didn’t lead to her arrest p>
It was the confrontation that got her arrested.
Now everything made sense.
“No wonder the evidence was missing p>
“It was a fabricated inventory,” John said.
“The reason the records were destroyed as well p>
Silence fell in the room again.
As I stared at the sheriff’s signature on Lori’s arrest warrant, I realized Lori was never convicted for stealing jewelry, money or gold bars p>
She was arrested for confronting the wrong man.
She was arrested because she got too close to the truth.
The truth that could be the end of their likes so they made her come to an end.