Chapter Seven
Keith was a little buzzed from drinking with Robbie when he got back home. He was hoping to see the girls, but Chloe’s car was still gone. He checked his watch. It was 10PM, but there was no chance he’d be able to sleep, so he started a new case file. He devised a system over the years--Blue 3” binder, new file of notes on the computer, a name for the case. Usually Chloe named the cases, so he texted her, but there was no reply.
He tapped his chin with a pencil. “Blah! Of course, Madher’s little helper.” But he thought twice about using a proper name, an easily identifiable name, and called it “Heather’s Little Helper.” He started a property search. “Holy shit! It’d be easier to make a list of what they don’t own. Geez.”
One address piqued his interest. He texted Robbie and Johnny. “What was reflector warehouse addy?”
Johnny replied, “It was 33 Oxbow Road.”
Keith chuckled. He texted back. “Guess who owns it now?”
Robbie replied, “No f’ing way.”
Keith wrote back, “I’ll check it out tomorrow. Girls there?”
Robbie responded. “Nope. Probably still at D’s.”
Keith wrote a note in the file. “December 18, 2014 -- Madher family owns warehouse where reflector was built.”
He kicked back on the couch and read articles about the Madhers for a few hours. In the mid 1800’s they arrived in Cleveland from Boston and established a shipping company. The company grew with the age of industrialization, mostly shipping raw materials, like coking coal and iron ore. Since then, it appeared their main business was being “investors”. He dug a little deeper, and found conspiracy theories swirling around the family: rumors of involvement in political assassinations and organized crime.
He found an out of print book, “The Madher Family: Secrets and Lies”. He ordered a copy for himself and sent the link to Robbie and Johnny. The idea of actually waiting two days to get a book irked him. It made him wonder why the Wells archives weren’t online. He texted the whole crew including Tracy and Chloe, “Crazy idea: If were planning to publish the reflector plans online, why not the whole library?”
Johnny added, “Yeah Robbie? In paper form vulnerable. Cf. Library of Alexandria.”
Keith Googled the reference. He mumbled, “Library of Alexandria burned in 391 AD by Christian Zealots.”
Robbie wrote back, “Big topic!!! No opposition from me! Let’s think it through. Hear Tracy out on it. She has index in brain.”
The Chardon Chronicles: Season Two --- The Winter Page 42
