Chapter 48 - The Watcher's Journal
Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, an elderly man unlocked a small wooden cabin hidden among dense pine trees.
He removed a weathered notebook from a locked drawer.
Inside were newspaper clippings spanning nearly twenty years.
Articles about corporate mergers.
Leadership appointments.
Executive resignations.
Among them rested a newly printed headline about Arthur Vance's internal investigation.
The man smiled faintly.
"So..."
He whispered to himself.
"They finally started asking."
He turned another page.
There was Harold Bennett.
Another page showed Samuel Pierce.
Another contained a faded photograph of a much younger Margaret Hale speaking at a corporate ethics conference over a decade earlier.
Her name had been circled in blue ink.
The old man closed the notebook carefully.
"You took longer than Harold expected."
A knock interrupted his thoughts.
He opened the cabin door.
A courier stood outside carrying a sealed envelope.
"No return address," the courier explained.
"It was paid in cash."
The old man waited until he was alone before opening it.
Inside was only a single photograph.
Margaret Hale.
Standing beside Arthur Vance.
On the back, someone had written five words.
She knows too much already.
May you like
For the first time in years, the old man's calm expression disappeared.
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