Andrew had worked for Price as a contract driver for nearly a year.
At first the jobs were ordinary transfers between warehouses and residential properties.
The pay was good enough that he could replace the transmission in his aging truck.
Then the work shifted toward night deliveries, sealed cartons, and instructions to avoid using the main entrances of storage facilities.
He confronted Price after finding a name written inside a cello case.
Price told him the contents had been seized from customers who refused to pay their invoices.
Andrew believed the explanation until a woman appeared at the depot asking for her missing instrument.
Price ordered Andrew to move the remaining cases immediately.
Andrew refused, and Price threatened to report him as the thief.
“He said every shipment was in Andrew’s name,
” Carol explained.
“He said the police would believe a driver before they believed a businessman with fifty employees.”
Daniel did not know whether Carol was describing a real threat or an excuse Andrew had given her.
He asked why she had not contacted the police.
“Because Andrew told me he had already signed forms that weren’t true,” she replied.
“He was afraid he would lose everything.”
“So you let stolen instruments pass through your garage.”
“I thought I could keep them here until he found a way out.”
“And then you helped Gideon set a trap for Isabel.”
Carol recoiled as though the sentence had struck her.
“He said she planned to ruin Andrew.”
Daniel’s voice remained low.
“You saw the hook, Carol.”
“I didn’t put the hook there.”
“You carried the boards.
”
“I thought it was supposed to frighten her away.”
Daniel glanced at the police officer, who made no attempt to stop the conversation.
“You cannot turn a swimming pool into a trap and then decide which parts you meant.”
Carol pressed a hand against the porch railing.
For once, she offered no immediate insult.
Ortiz came outside while they were speaking.
She told Carol that investigators had located Andrew that morning.
He was safe and had agreed to speak with counsel present.
Carol sat down heavily.
“He isn’t under arrest?”
“He is being interviewed,” Ortiz said.
“His status will depend on what he did and what he tells us.”
“Can I see him?”
“Not while we’re still sorting out the movements of the shipments.”
Carol nodded without looking up.
Daniel felt no urge to comfort her.
The woman had endangered Isabel and anyone else who might have stepped into his yard.
Yet her fear for Andrew helped explain why Price had chosen her.
Carol was obsessed with protecting her own family, even when her actions threatened other people’s families.
Inside the house, investigators found three stacks of shipping blankets marked with an airport freight company logo.
The mark connected the garage to Caroline Price’s workplace.
They also found several instrument stands and a row of padded cases that had been stripped of exterior labels.
An evidence technician photographed each item before lifting it from its place.
None of the recovered objects contained the missing viola.
Daniel was permitted to examine the empty garage only after the team finished.
He stood where the cases had been stacked and imagined the owners searching bedrooms, classrooms, and practice halls for objects that might never return.
A house could look ordinary from the street while holding an entire neighborhood’s missing possessions.
He went home and called his sister.
“I need a favor,” he said.
Nora listened as he asked her to help compile public notices from families whose instruments had vanished.
“You’re not going looking for the thief yourself, are you?” she asked.
“No.”
“Daniel.”
“I want the families to know there may be a way to identify what was taken.”
Nora considered the request.
“Then I’ll call the school music coordinator.”
She paused.
“And you will stay out of any warehouse, right?”
Daniel looked across the street at the patrol car.
“That is the plan.”
