Chapter 11: The Return
Mitchell flew back from San Jose the following morning on an earlier flight than the one he had originally booked.
He did not come to the house. He went first to Pine Ridge, then to the bank that held the safe-deposit box, and only after both locations failed to produce the suitcase did he call me directly. I answered on speaker with Patricia present.
He began with the language of concern—where was I, what had happened at the restaurant, why had Chloe stopped responding. I let the questions stand without answering them in the order he preferred.
“The suitcase is in evidence,” I said. “The instructions you wrote are in evidence. Chloe’s statement about what she overheard is in evidence. The man you sent to Pine Ridge was documented entering and leaving an empty house. Every access point you controlled inside my company has been locked pending forensic review. You will not speak to Chloe again without her attorney present. Any further communication with me will go through Patricia.”
Silence occupied the line for several seconds. When he spoke again the concern had been replaced by calculation.
“You’re making a mistake that will not hold,” he said. “Those documents were being secured for your protection.”
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“The prosecutor’s office and the forensic team will decide what the documents show,” I answered. “Your protection narrative ended when you instructed our daughter to leave the alarm off for a third party and when you told someone on the phone that I would be taken care of by the next day. The rest is process.”
I ended the call. Patricia logged the time and the content. Ruiz was already coordinating the next set of interviews and the preservation orders on Mitchell’s accounts.
