The Camera Over the Workbench
Chapter 12 - The Camera Over the Workbench
Ethan installed a security camera in the garage two years earlier after tools went missing from the neighborhood.
He had forgotten about it.
Lauren had too.
The account still existed.
The cloud subscription did not.
But the camera stored thirty days of clips on a memory card.
Ethan climbed onto a stool and removed it.
They watched the footage on Nathan’s laptop.
Three nights before Ethan came home, Richard entered the garage.
Lauren appeared behind him.
There was no audio.
Richard pointed at the Harley.
Lauren shook her head.
Richard walked toward the workbench.
Lauren blocked him.
He smiled.
Then he leaned closer and said something that made her step back.
He left eight minutes later.
But that was not the clip that mattered.
Two nights earlier, at 2:13 a.m., someone entered the garage alone.
Richard.
He wore gloves.
He searched drawers.
He opened Ethan’s old filing cabinet.
Then he went to a small side door leading into the laundry room.
Lauren stared at the screen.
“That’s how he saw the separation papers.”
The next clip showed him returning twelve minutes later with the white envelope in his hand.
He photographed several pages with his phone.
Then he placed the envelope back.
Ethan’s anger rose, but this time it felt different.
Cleaner.
Focused.
Maya watched the video that afternoon.
“This helps,” she said. “A lot.”
She filed it with the court.
Then she contacted the police regarding the unauthorized entry.
Richard’s attorney suddenly became much less talkative.
But the biggest break came from an unexpected source.
An elderly former bookkeeper named Gloria Simmons saw the newspaper article.
She called Maya.
Gloria had worked for Cole Auto & Machine during Edward’s final years.
“I kept copies,” she said.
“Copies of what?” Maya asked.
“Everything Richard told me to destroy.”
Two hours later, Gloria arrived carrying a cardboard banker’s box.
Inside were ledgers showing repeated payments from the trust into companies controlled by Richard.
One transfer stood out.
$96,000.
The date was six days after Edward’s funeral.
The recipient was a company called R.C. Holdings.
Nathan stared at the initials.
Ethan did not need anyone to explain them.
Maya turned another page.
Then she froze.
There was a second signature authorizing the transfer.
May you like
Edward Cole.
Signed six days after he had been buried.
