Chapter 5 - THE HERMIT WAS A WITNESS
Elias had not hidden in the mountains because he feared people.
He hid because he was building a case.
After surviving the ravine, he went to state police.
Nothing happened.
Then to a county prosecutor.
Records vanished.
A witness recanted.
One deputy later took a security job with Hollow Ridge.
Elias stopped trusting local systems.
Instead, he became what the company expected.
Bitter.
Poor.
Isolated.
Buyable.
He took small jobs repairing fences and cabins for Hollow Ridge managers.
Listened.
Collected names.
Copied invoices.
Tracked supply fraud.
Then, six months earlier, a federal investigator contacted him through a church attorney.
Special Agent Mara Chen.
She believed the mine-collapse records were part of a wider scheme involving bribery, false safety certifications, and land fraud.
But she needed original documents.
Thomas Vale’s ledger.
Clara asked:
“Where is it?”
Elias looked at her.
“I thought your mother had it.”
“She doesn’t?”
“She told Hollow Ridge you did.”
Clara laughed bitterly.
“She sold me for something I don’t have.”
“Maybe.”
Elias’s expression changed.
“What?”
“Your father was careful.”
“That doesn’t answer me.”
“He may have hidden it somewhere only you could lead someone to.”
Clara stared.
“I was twelve when he supposedly died.”
“Exactly.”
Then Elias asked:
“What did your father give you before he disappeared?”
Clara’s breath caught.
A wooden music box.
Blue paint.
Broken hinge.
Her mother had tried to burn it years ago.
Clara saved one piece.
The brass key.
She still wore it on a cord beneath her dress.
Elias saw her hand move toward her collar.
His eyes narrowed.
“What is that?”
May you like
Clara pulled out the tiny key.
And Elias went completely still.
