With each page I write, I can feel him standing over my shoulder—editing my grammar, correcting my syntax, and always pushing for clarity. No literary or legal flourishes allowed.

“Don’t write to show off,” he always told me. “Write to make the reader understand.”

After a bit of wrangling with the landlord of the Litchfield house, I got him to let me out of the lease. I lost the security deposit, but that was a small price to pay. For the past six months, I’ve been renting a nice condo in New Haven within walking distance of Yale Law School, and soon I’ll be back to teaching classes three days a week.

When I moved, I put most of Garrett’s stuff in storage—his books, his clothes, his notes from Integrity Gone and Stolen Honor. The one thing I keep in the condo is his guitar. It brings me comfort to see it leaning in the corner of the bedroom. Sometimes, if I close my eyes, I can still hear him playing. Like he did the day he bought it at Sammy’s.

Naturally, I played my recording of Leo Amalfi’s confession for the detectives in Brattleboro, Vermont. But it wasn’t the bombshell I expected. They thought the White House angle was just hearsay or maybe the ravings of a dying man. But at least they started looking for some of Amalfi’s known associates in an attempt to track down the actual shooters.

They’re still looking.

Personally, I believe Amalfi was telling the truth. I think the First Gentleman ordered Garrett’s murder because he was getting too close to finding out about the murder Cole Wright himself had committed. The one he’s on trial for now. I think Garrett learned something that day at the airport—and I think he died because of it.

I realize I haven’t called Dr. Graham to thank him for the pass yet. Truth is, I wanted to wait until I was sure it would actually get me in. And it did. Good as gold.

I send a text to Brother, but my phone says it’s not deliverable. I decide to do a little probing on LinkedIn to get his contact info.

Interesting. I find an email address, but no phone number. He probably doesn’t want students pestering him at all hours.

At this point, I think most people would just shoot off an email.

Not me. Not since Garrett taught me the wonders of the dark web. Just for fun, I click on my Tor browser and go down the rabbit hole on Dr. Cameron Graham. There has to be a phone number in here somewhere.