A patrol car waited near the corner because his attorney had arranged for a supervised exchange concerning the property damage.
Daniel refused to speak about the case without the officer present.
Frank accepted the condition and stood several feet away from the steps.
“I know you think I wanted your house to burn,” Frank said.
Daniel pointed toward the blackened hedge.
“You put a flame beneath dry leaves next to my home.”
Frank looked at the damaged wood and did not argue.
He said he had known Simon would contact Daniel, and he had panicked when he saw the envelope in Nora’s kitchen.
His brother Martin once entrusted him with files from the Bellwether investigation, but Frank claimed he never opened them until after Martin died.
He found a list of names and a photograph of a teenager who resembled Daniel’s son.
“I thought they were going to drag your family into something dangerous,” Frank said.
Daniel asked why Frank had shouted about the address instead of warning him directly.
Frank admitted the letter connected to a place he had visited secretly the week before.
He had gone to the old records annex to meet a woman who said she could prove that his brother altered evidence.
The woman had threatened to accuse Frank of helping unless he gave her money.
Frank said he was ashamed to tell anyone because he had already made a payment.
Officer Navarro recorded the statement and explained that detectives would have to verify it.
Daniel noticed that Frank described his actions with the helplessness of a man caught in a trap built partly by his own choices.
He also noticed that Frank never asked how Daniel and Owen felt watching their mailbox burn.
“You had other choices,” Daniel said.
Frank nodded once.
“I know that now.”
The officer escorted Frank back toward the patrol car.
Daniel watched him leave and wished the truth were simple enough to end with an apology.
Chapter 10 — The Woman at the Annex
Detective Chen found the records annex locked behind a chain-link fence and a row of overgrown lilacs.
The building belonged to a nonprofit archive that had acquired Bellwether’s remaining files after its dissolution.
A former employee named Judith Sayers maintained the property and occasionally allowed researchers inside by appointment.
Frank identified Judith as the woman who demanded money.
Judith denied threatening him and said he offered payment in exchange for information about his brother.
She showed Chen a visitor log and an email arranging the meeting.
