"I see. What sort of aspects? " "The kind that would require your client to be considerably more transparent about what they already know about the vehicle before I'd be comfortable entering any agreement. " Another silence, longer this time. "Mr. Bennett, my client's position Your client doesn't have a position I can evaluate because your client won't identify themselves. " Cole let that sit for a moment. I'm a reasonable person.
I'm open to a conversation, but I'm not signing anything for anyone I can't name. He paused. Tell your client that. If they want to talk, they know how to reach me. He ended the call.
Victoria's voice came on immediately from the other phone. Good. You gave them a reason to escalate the contact without revealing anything about where we actually are. That's the idea. Cole sat down on the shop stool.
How long do you think before they come back? Days? Maybe less. A pause. Rhea sent me a preliminary note this morning.
Off the record, but his spectroscopic samples came back consistent with the 2017 date range. He's confident. Cole absorbed this. So, we're on schedule. We're on schedule.
The formal report will be ready in 10 days. I've also been in contact with a journalist, Automotive History, writes for two major industry publications, has broken corporate provenance stories before. I haven't told her anything specific, but I've told her I may have something significant, and she's interested. Cole had expected this eventually, but hadn't entirely prepared for how it felt to hear it. A journalist meant the story moving outward, beyond the controlled space of his workshop and Victoria's documents, and the careful architecture of evidence they'd been building.
It meant people who weren't bound by the same caution. Not yet, he said. Not until the formal report is in hand. Agreed. I just wanted you to know the option exists.