The dead witness was named Charles Bell, a retired construction supervisor who had helped renovate the original café in the late 1980s.
According to the disputed deed, Charles witnessed Margaret and Henry signing away their interests in the restaurant in November 1994.
But county death records showed Charles had died that May.
Rebecca explained that the contradiction did not automatically establish who created the document or whether every transaction was invalid.
It did, however, raise serious concerns about authenticity.
She requested additional records and arranged for a forensic document examiner to review the signatures.
Meanwhile, Ethan contacted former employees Rose remembered from the café's early years.
Most telephone numbers no longer worked.
One woman had moved to Florida. Another had died. Several former workers could not recall details from three decades earlier.
Then Ethan found Samuel Ortiz.
Samuel was eighty-two and lived above his son's auto repair shop twenty miles away. He had worked as a dishwasher at Willow Creek Café before Richard took control.
When Ethan mentioned Henry Walker, Samuel fell silent.
"I thought his family had given up."
"We didn't know what happened," Ethan answered.
Samuel asked them to visit the following afternoon.
He welcomed Ethan, Margaret, and Rebecca into a small kitchen smelling of fresh coffee.
On the table sat a black notebook.
"I started keeping this after Richard began changing the books," he said.
The pages contained dates, vehicle descriptions, names, and short handwritten observations.
Samuel explained that Richard and Daniel frequently removed cartons of documents from the café office after closing.
Henry discovered this and confronted them.
"Three nights before his accident, I heard Henry tell Richard he was taking the records to an independent accountant."
Ethan leaned forward.
"Did you see them arguing?"
"Yes."
"What happened?"
"Richard threatened to ruin Henry's reputation. Henry told him he wouldn't let Margaret lose everything."
Samuel looked toward the floor.
"Then Daniel said something about making sure Henry never reached the accountant."
Margaret's hands began trembling.
Rebecca asked Samuel to repeat the exact words he remembered and whether he had any evidence beyond his recollection.
Samuel admitted he couldn't remember the full conversation.
He also emphasized that he had no knowledge of what caused Henry's fatal crash.
Rebecca documented his account without drawing unsupported conclusions.
Then Samuel turned to another page.
"There's something I should have told somebody years ago."
He described two workers arriving after Henry's funeral to seal the brick wall behind the original oven.
"They worked all night."
"Did Richard hire them?" Ethan asked.
Samuel nodded.
"I saw him supervising."
Margaret looked toward Rebecca.
"Henry's compartment."
Samuel stared.
"What compartment?"
Ethan placed the brass key on the table.
And the old man's face changed.
"Then Richard never found it."