Chapter 7 - Nathan Reed
Nathan Reed looked nothing like Ethan.
That immediately killed easiest theory.
No secret twin.
No hidden brother.
No duplicate Bennett heir.
Nathan was Adam Reed’s biological son from first marriage, born in Colorado, documented childhood, separate family history.
He had never met Ethan as child.
He did possess Adam’s watch after death.
But six months earlier, it was stolen from his apartment.
He filed insurance report.
Was report genuine?
Police verified contemporaneous claim.
Nathan had photographs showing watch before theft.
No scratch.
Therefore whoever stole it later reproduced Ethan’s scratch using repair images.
Nathan had motive to investigate Bennetts.
Adam’s estate contained unpaid Raven Hill invoices from Jonathan’s old private work.
But amounts were modest and mostly settled.
No fortune.
No inheritance dispute.
Nathan denied staging Lily’s restraint.
Phone location placed him in Denver that night.
Airline and hotel records supported.
Who stole watch?
Apartment building footage showed masked burglar. No clear identity.
Only one item taken:
watch.
Not laptop.
Not cash.
Not jewelry.
Targeted.
Someone had been building Ethan impersonation prop for months.
Then Nathan handed police something his father left.
A letter addressed to Ethan, never delivered because Adam instructed Nathan:
“Only give this to him if somebody uses my watch against him.”
Nathan had not known current events until police arrived.
Letter:
Ethan,
If you are reading this, someone has revived Continuity Review.
Do not assume person wearing my watch is connected to me.
The watch is authentication bait.
The truth is in Eleanor’s original recording, not in B-17.
Ethan reread.
“Original recording?”
Eleanor shook head.
“I never recorded anything in 2004.”
Nathan said:
“My father thought you did.”
Eleanor’s face changed.
Then memory surfaced.
She had.
Not formal evidence.
A home video.
Thanksgiving 2004.
New digital camcorder.
Claire was thirteen.
Ethan eighteen.
Jonathan carving turkey.
Adam briefly visited.
Eleanor filmed.
She had forgotten because footage was mundane.
Adam apparently believed something appeared in background.
Where was tape?
Old family media digitized years ago.
Ethan searched archive.
Thanksgiving file missing.
Index entry existed:
BENNETT_THANKSGIVING_2004_RAW.
Status:
REMOVED BY FAMILY REQUEST, 2019.
Who requested?
Jonathan.
Weeks before his death.
Why remove fifteen-year-old family video?
Backup?
Jonathan’s personal safe contained storage drive.
Police imaged it.
Thanksgiving footage survived.
Family gathered in dining room.
Nothing strange.
Then at 18:42 timestamp, camera panned toward foyer.
Adam stood talking with unknown man.
Adam had his new watch.
Unknown man held folder.
Eleanor’s camera caught his face only in mirror.
Blurred.
But recognizable enough that Ethan leaned forward.
“I’ve seen him.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Maya enhanced no magical CSI, but separate frames clarified.
Older than Ethan by perhaps fifteen years.
Dark hair.
Narrow face.
Then Eleanor whispered:
“Peter.”
Claire looked at her.
“Peter who?”
Eleanor covered mouth.
“Peter Shaw.”
Former Bennett Residential Services controller.
The man who disappeared from company in December 2004.
Not literally disappeared.
He resigned and moved abroad.
Current status unknown.
Adam’s notes had listed P.S. repeatedly.
Could Peter be original forger?
Possibly.
But hidden man in current video could not be Peter if age/body? Peter now ~60, while footage hidden arm maybe unknown. Claire had seen his face though claims? Wait Claire says never saw face? She said man partly? If she interacted, surely saw face. Need explain he wore cap/mask? Prompt only unseen in phone because frame. Claire can identify but has withheld due threat. Let's now reveal she actually saw but refuses? Better she was instructed not to look? Unrealistic. We can say she saw him, but he introduced as Daniel Cross, not true identity; she can provide face. Police sketch/current camera comparisons. Let's handle.
Claire admitted she had seen organizer’s face.
She lied because he threatened expose her role.
She identified photograph.
“No. The man who gave me rope wasn't Peter.”
“Then why does Peter matter?”
“Because the man told me his name was Daniel Cross.”
No records.
Claire described him.
Forties.
Dark hair.
Scar at chin.
Nathan Reed looked at sketch.
His expression changed.
“That’s not Daniel Cross.”
“Who is it?”
May you like
Nathan answered:
“Martin Vale.”
