They were outraged. They had always suspected something wasn't right about Gerald Puit. Clare let most of those calls go to voicemail. The disposal company's principal operator, a man named Terrence W, who had been running the illegal operation for 11 years while also operating a legitimate waste management business as cover went to trial in February. That one did fill a courtroom.
Torres testified for 2 days. The soil chemist who analyzed Evans original samples testified the young man who had inherited his father's stake and kept the financial records in the shaft. His name was Connor Milhaven and he was 28 by the time he took the stand testified for a day and a half. I wasn't called to testify. My statement was entered into the record, but my role was peripheral enough that the prosecution didn't need me on the stand.
I followed the proceedings online the way most people do through news summaries. Through the occasional update from Torres through Claire's texts that arrived at odd hours with single lines like Connor held up well today or W's attorney tried to suppress the storage unit photos. Judge denied it. Obviously, W was convicted on 14 counts. The sentencing was in April, 18 years.
The lawyer who'd called me the one with the controlled voice and the historical observation about Daniel's heart condition took a plea deal in March, 7 years. It was less than I would have wanted for a man who called a person who' just stumbled onto the truth and tried to warn them off with a murder reference. But Torres told me the deal was conditional on his cooperation with the ongoing investigation into related operations in two other counties and that his information had already led to three additional indictments. I decided to let that be enough. Clare called me on a Thursday morning in late March.
About a week after the W verdict came in, the coroner's office called about Evan. I sat down. They've completed their supplemental review. Connor Milhaven's testimony, the financial records, they included a payment that corresponded to the week before Evan died. A payment to a name that doesn't appear anywhere else in the records.
She paused. Torres says they've identified who the payment went to. They're not releasing details yet, but they're calling it an active homicide investigation now. I didn't say anything for a moment. How are you?
I've been better. I've also been worse. She was quiet for a second. For 9 years, I sat with the not knowing. I thought the not knowing was the worst part.
Now I know or I'm about to know. And it turns out certainty has its own kind of weight, a breath. But I'd rather carry this weight than that one. I'd rather know. Yes, Daniel would have wanted this.
He documented Evan's investigation because he believed in what Evan found. But he also, I think part of what drove him was Evan himself. The road, the no skid marks, her voice tightened just slightly. I think Daniel carried the truth about what probably happened to Evan for 6 years alone. And I think it was the heaviest thing he ever held.
And he still didn't put it down. No, he didn't. She paused. I used to think the worst thing a person could do was keep secrets from the people they loved. I've changed my mind about that.