Chapter 12 - THE MAN WHO DISAPPEARED FIRSTSix weeks before Emily vanished, one of Richard’s employees disappeared.
Patrick Sloan.
Forty-four.
Project estimator.
Divorced.
No children.
His sister reported him missing.
He had emptied no bank accounts.
Left clothes.
Laptop.
Medication.
Car found at a commuter station.
Police initially considered voluntary disappearance because Patrick had recently lost money gambling and told a coworker he wanted to “walk away from everything.”
The case remained open.
I had never heard his name.
Emily had.
Her draft email contained:
I think the invoices Richard is hiding connect to Patrick Sloan.
Detective Ortiz did not tell me that immediately.
When she did, I asked:
“Do you think Patrick was in the basement too?”
“We don’t know.”
“Another hidden room?”
“We searched.”
“Then where?”
“We don’t know.”
There was that phrase again.
But now the case had widened.
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Emily may not have been confined only because she threatened divorce.
She may have discovered something about another missing person.
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