CHAPTER EIGHT D: THE OWNER’S DAUGHTER

Simon’s daughter, Rachel Vale, contacted investigators after the warehouse search appeared in the local news.
She worked as a school counselor and had not spoken to her father in nearly two years.
Rachel explained that Simon had borrowed money from her to keep the furniture business open.
He had promised to repay her after signing a contract with a medical transport company.
She had believed the contract involved refurbishing waiting-room furniture.
When she visited the warehouse, however, she found more vehicle parts than chairs.
Simon told her the business was expanding into fleet maintenance.
Rachel asked whether he had the licenses and equipment required for that work.
He became angry and accused her of treating him like a criminal.
She stopped visiting after he demanded another loan.


Ruiz asked whether Rachel had any records of the payments.
Rachel produced bank statements and a series of messages from Simon.
One message said he needed money to keep a vehicle from being repossessed before a scheduled inspection.
Another referred to a payment from Graham Pike that had been delayed.
Rachel had not understood the references at the time.
“I thought he was desperate to save his business,” she said.
“He was desperate,” Ruiz replied.
“We still have to establish what he chose to do about it.”
Rachel asked whether her father would be arrested.
Ruiz said she could not discuss decisions that had not been made.
Rachel nodded and placed the statements on the table.
“I don’t want to hurt him,” she said.
“But I can’t keep pretending I don’t know what I saw.

”

CHAPTER EIGHT E: THE REPAIRED TABLE

Rachel Vale had grown up playing beneath the furniture benches in her father’s workshop.
She remembered the smell of varnish and the sound of Simon humming while he fitted chair legs together.
The warehouse had once been a place where damaged objects were repaired rather than hidden.
When investigators asked her to identify equipment, she recognized a worktable Simon had built for her school science projects.
Its surface was now covered with marks from metal clamps and cutting tools.
Rachel ran her fingers along a shallow groove near the edge.
“He made this when I was twelve,” she said.
Ruiz asked whether Rachel wanted a break.
Rachel shook her head.
She pointed to a storage shelf where Simon kept receipts for custom furniture orders.
The shelf had been moved, revealing a narrow cabinet behind it.
Investigators opened the cabinet under the authority of the search warrant.
Inside were old customer invoices and a box of vehicle identification plates.
Rachel looked away when she saw the plates.
“I thought he was selling used parts,” she said.
“He told me it was a legitimate contract.”
Ruiz did not ask Rachel to decide what the plates meant.
The investigators photographed and cataloged them for comparison with vehicle records.
Rachel stepped outside into the alley and called her mother.
She did not know how to explain that a place associated with her childhood had become part of a criminal investigation.
Her mother listened and said she would come to sit with her.
Rachel waited beside the loading dock until the car arrived.