Dempsey was quiet for a moment. Then the federal attorney in Nashville is coming to Greystone Falls Monday. I spoke to him Thursday night. This letter using a district superintendent to pressure a witness who has cooperated with a potential federal investigation. That's not nothing, Rey.
That's obstruction territory. Can you establish she's a witness in an official investigation? As of this morning, Dempsey said there is an official preliminary inquiry, which means anyone with information relevant to that inquiry is a protected witness. Ry said, "Does Harrove know about the inquiry? He will by end of day. " Dempsey said that's how these things work.
But by the time he knows, the letter about Birch is already on record. And on record, it looks like what it is. After Ray hung up, he sat for a moment. He thought about the shape of what Hargrove was doing. The way a man who had operated without consequence for 12 years responded when consequences arrived.
Not by stopping, by accelerating, by using every tool faster and harder. And the problem with that strategy, the fundamental problem was that it created more evidence of the same pattern. Every move Harrove made now was another document in a file that was getting thicker by the day. Garrett Wyn walked into Dempsey's office Monday morning. He came alone.
He told his mother Sunday night. His mother had cried, not because she was surprised, because she'd been waiting for this for a long time, too, in the way that people who live close to power know the weight of it and know the day it comes down. He had a lawyer his mother had arranged, a woman from Asheville, who had nothing to do with Greystone Falls and no connection to Harrove. He sat across from Dempsey and the federal attorney and he talked for 2 hours. He talked about specific conversations, specific instructions, specific things Harrove had said in specific rooms on specific dates that Garrett had been present for.
He talked about 2018 about the investigation into Earl Fletcher's contracting business and a conversation in which Hargrove had mentioned that a certain person at the licensing board owed him a favor. He talked about the approach he'd been given regarding Mia Callaway, the framing, the language, the objective. He did not editorialize. He did not explain his reasons for being there. He answered what was asked.
At the end, the federal attorney said, "Mr. Win, I want to be clear with you about what comes next. Things you've said today, they will require you to say them again in a formal capacity. There will be consequences for your stepfather that will affect your family. " "Are you prepared for that? " Garrett looked at the table for a long moment. Then he looked up.
He told me. Garrett said slowly. When I was 12 years old that the only thing that matters in life is how much power you have over what happens to you. He paused. I believed him for a long time.
I'm trying to stop believing him now. Federal attorney said nothing. Dempsey looked at her desk. Garrett said, "I'm prepared. " Ry heard about it from Dempsey that afternoon. He was at the garage last hour of the day cleaning up.
The phone rang. Dempsey told him Garrett had come in. Statement had been given. It was now part of a formal record. Ray listened, said, "Thank you. " He hung up.
He stood in the garage for a moment. Looking at nothing particular, the radio was off today. He'd turned it off at some point and hadn't turned it back on. He thought about Garrett win at 18. Doing the one thing that was hardest to do, the thing that cost you the most and gave you nothing back immediately, telling the truth when the truth was about the people you lived with.