“I was given directions many years ago by Mark. When Nora’s birthday was nearing, if there was no response, I looked at the website of the school. The graduation was posted publicly,” he said.
He was invited into our home, because there was no universe, would I allow him to leave with the responses.
As we entered the house, Nora took off her cap and asked, “What did Scout have to do with trying to arrest a stranger and how does this stranger have Dad’s items?”
Jonah stood in my kitchen like a man who’d been rehearsing for this moment, yet still hated every second.
He told me that Mark had hired him prior to the accident.
Mark worked for a medical supply company, in their accounting department. Jonah explained that Mark had found records that didn’t appear to be accurate. He had records of shipments billed to clinics, but they never received them; payments through unusual accounts; old employee signatures on new forms.
“He suspected it was fraudulent,” Jonah stated. “However, he did not know how extensive it was or who was trustworthy in his company.”
“So, he engaged a P.I. without telling me,” I replied.
Jonah replied, giving me the look of exhaustion, “To the best of my knowledge, he planned to discuss this with you only after he could substantiate his findings. He wanted to ensure you didn’t panic and worry with half of the story.”
Nora asked, “Why do you have Dad’s guitar pick?”
Jonah replied, “Because Mark handed it to me as a token of recognition.”This is an excerpt from that same conversation.
“Someone was paid by Mark to deliver something to Nora on her 18th birthday if there were any problems.”
At that point, Nora sat very still.
I asked Jonah if he had any reason to believe that Mark was in danger.
Jonah took a moment before answering.
Jonah explained that the day of Mark’s accident, the last thing he said to Jonah was: “I could be wrong about this.” Jonah said Mark said, “If I am wrong, I will feel foolish in a week.” He said, “However, if I am right, there might not be a week.”
At that point, I felt ill.
Then, Jonah explained why he disappeared for many years after Mark’s accident.
After the crash, Jonah had his office broken into and all that was taken from the office was the folder of notes and papers that were given to him by Mark. Jonah went to the police, but since he didn’t have proof of the folder, it was treated by them like any other fraud case in the workplace and not anything bigger than that. A few days after the police were notified, Jonah received an anonymous email warning him to let it go.
“Ever since that day, I have regretted letting it go,” Jonah said in a broken voice.
Jonah handed the package to Nora.
Inside the package there was a letter, a small digital audio recorder, and a storage key with a faded number tag.
I opened the letter first because that is what Nora asked me to do.
The letter was completely Mark. In the letter, Mark expressed his love for Nora.He told her that even though she was blind, she had not “become a smaller, lesser version of herself.” He also said that I was the bravest person he had ever met; this was an incredibly rude remark since he was not present to see how his words affected me.
Then Nora said to me, “Play the recorder.”
So, I played it.
I was overwhelmed as I listened to Mark’s voice after seven years. It felt like someone had punched me in the heart.
Mark’s voice sounded normal. It was warm, dry, a bit worn out.
“Hey, Nora,” Mark said as he began the recording. “If you’re hearing this, something has gone horribly wrong.”
Nora laughed in a small, broken way and started crying midway through his recording.
Mark told Nora that he loved her, that she was braver than most people he knew; he made a joke about how Nora used to play one finger on the piano and called it “jazz.”
Then he changed his tone.
“The person I’ve been most afraid of has been closer than I’ve ever wanted to know.”
I quickly said, “His boss.”
Jonah replied, “I thought the same thing.”
Before Jonah could help me, I had him give me copies of his driver’s license, every note he still had from Mark, and every other thing that Mark had given him, other than the package. There was no way that I was getting involved with another situation in which I was unsure of whom I could trust or not; no way I was going to have to deal with a guy carrying a messenger bag and looking guilty.
We went out to the former company’s building, which now had a new name. We found ex-employees and checked out public records. Mark had indicated two clinics that had never received the equipment they were billed for.I said to my friend, “This is really awful.”
My friend replied, “It’s about my father.”
Once we heard each other’s points, that was the end of our disagreement.
My friend listened to Mark’s tape for quite some time using only her headphones and then said that there was a church bell in the background of the recording.
I couldn’t hear anything except for static.
My friend said, “No, it was St. Anne’s Church and it has four small bells followed by one large bell. I used to pass it on the way to piano lessons as a child every week.”
This provided us with a landmark.