Nora Bennett owned the aging brick apartment building where Maya and Jordan had lived for six years. She was sixty-four, usually wore bright scarves, and seemed more interested in her garden than the property's finances. Whenever the heating failed, she arrived carrying tools before calling a professional. When Jordan injured his leg, she waived a late fee without being asked.
Maya couldn't imagine Nora participating in anything dishonest.
But Evelyn had listed her among four mysterious witnesses.
They went to Nora's apartment that afternoon.
She opened the door holding a watering can.
"Maya, sweetheart. Come in."
Maya showed her the note.
Nora stared at Evelyn's handwriting.
The watering can slipped from her fingers, spilling water across the floor.
"Where did you find this?"
"In my mother's sewing box."
Nora covered her mouth.
For several moments, she seemed unable to speak.
Then she stepped aside.
"Close the door."
Her apartment smelled of lavender and fresh bread. Family photographs lined the mantel, but Maya noticed one she'd never seen before. It showed four people standing outside the Bellhaven Textile factory.
Thomas Ward.
Evelyn Ellis.
A tall man Maya didn't recognize.
And Nora.
"You knew my mother," Maya whispered.
Nora nodded.
"We worked together."
"What happened at the factory?"
Nora lowered herself into an armchair.
"Your mother discovered that the company was being stripped of its assets."
Maya frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Nora explained that Bellhaven Textile employed nearly eight hundred workers before closing. A development company called Harlan Properties acquired a controlling interest and began selling equipment, transferring money between subsidiaries, and using the factory's land as collateral for loans.
According to Nora, the transactions left the operating business unable to pay workers or maintain safe facilities.
"Evelyn was supposed to be just a seamstress," Nora said. "But she was brilliant with numbers. She noticed payroll deductions that didn't match the company's records."
"Did she report it?"
"She tried."
"To whom?"
"Thomas Ward."
Maya thought about the homeless man.
"Wasn't he the chairman?"
"He was. But by then, his authority had been reduced. He owned shares, not control."
Nora's eyes filled with tears.
"Evelyn gathered documents. Samuel Price helped copy them. I kept the workers' records."
"Where are the documents now?"
Nora looked away.
"We hid them."
"Where?"
Before Nora could answer, someone knocked.
Three slow knocks followed by two quick ones.
Nora's expression changed.
She whispered, "That's the same pattern they used eleven years ago."
Maya looked toward the door.
"Who?"
Nora rose slowly.
"Someone who knows the witnesses are together again."