VALE, CLARA.
Standard issue. Nothing special.
He pulled it down, set it on the metal table, and flipped the lid open.
Inside—more than he expected.
Not much.
But more than the file.
He started sorting.
Careful. Methodical.
A plastic sleeve of photographs—cabin exterior, ridgeline, interior shots of the place as it had been found.
A small bundle of copied sketches—looser than the ones at the barn, but unmistakably hers.
And beneath that—statements.
He picked up the first.
Talley, Sam.
Short. Emotional even through the formal wording.
He set it aside.
Blackwood Mabel — Blackwood Estate Winery.
Burke’s brow lifted.
Didn’t remember that one being in the main file.
He kept going.
Harper, Ned — Moonshine Creek RV Park.
Wilson, Travis — Hollis Ridge Farm (employee).
Burke paused there.
Read that one a little slower.
Then flipped back.
Talley. Hollis. Wilson.
Back again.
Same names. Same circle. Same land.
“That wasn’t nothing.”
He set the papers down, resting both hands on the edge of the table.
For a long second, stood there.
