Chapter 4 - THE DEAD ENGINEER
Adrian did not sleep.
By six the next morning, he was inside Whitmore Infrastructure's private records floor with his chief compliance officer, Naomi Park.
"Pull everything on Harbor Point," he said.
Naomi stared at him.
"Everything?"
"Inspection logs. Concrete tests. safety reports. Daniel Keane's emails. Don't alert Richard."
That last part changed her expression.
Richard Whitmore was chairman of the board and Thomas's younger brother. He had helped raise Adrian after his mother died.
The digital record for Daniel's final month contained gaps.
Seven inspection reports were missing.
Two laboratory certifications had been replaced after upload.
Daniel's company email account had been deleted three hours after his death.
Naomi whispered, "That's not standard."
"Who authorized it?"
She checked.
Richard Whitmore.
At nine, Adrian drove to Marissa's apartment.
She opened the door holding Owen.
The baby had Daniel's eyes.
Now that Adrian knew, he could not stop seeing it.
"I need Daniel's personal files."
Marissa did not invite him in.
"You need?"
Adrian corrected himself.
"I'm asking."
That worked better.
She brought out a cardboard box Daniel's employer had returned after the accident.
Inside were pens, safety glasses, a cracked phone, and a pocket notebook.
Most pages held measurements.
One held names.
RICHARD.
GRAHAM.
M. CALDWELL.
LOT 17.
The last page contained a sentence written hard enough to tear the paper.
THEY ARE USING THE OLD MIX AGAIN.
Adrian knew what that meant.
Twelve years earlier, Whitmore had settled a lawsuit involving substandard concrete supplied by Caldwell Materials.
The supplier was supposed to be permanently banned.
Marissa pointed to the initials beneath the sentence.
"Daniel wrote this the night before he died."
Adrian turned the page.
A date was written there.
Tomorrow - meet A.W. at church.
Marissa frowned.
"A.W. Who is that?"
Adrian already knew.
Alice Whitmore.
May you like
His father's sister.
The aunt who had disappeared from company life four years earlier after a so-called nervous breakdown.
