Chapter 39 - The Collector
The name Caleb Ross did not appear in the official Kunar casualty report. It appeared in a separate list of contractors attached to the medical transfer team. The list marked him as deceased three months after the operation.
Jonah insisted the man in the photograph was Ross.
“I saw him at the clinic,” Jonah said. “He wore a gray jacket and carried a folder. He told me the operation was over and that none of us should expect to see each other again.”
“Did he threaten you?” the investigator asked.
“He said our families could be at risk if we went looking.”
The investigator searched archived contractor records. Caleb Ross had worked for Grayline and later became a private consultant. No death certificate was found. Instead, there was a record of a passport renewal under a shortened version of his name.
The trail led to a consulting firm based in Maryland. The company denied employing him, but its registered agent confirmed that Ross had received payments through a subcontractor.
“Can we contact him?” I asked.
“The investigators will,” the officer replied. “We can’t assume he’s responsible for the threats.”
Nadia gave the investigator a copy of the photograph. “If he’s alive, I want to hear from him. He was there when I woke up. He may know who ordered the separation.”
The next morning, Ross’s attorney contacted the inspector general. Ross was willing to provide a statement, but he would not appear in person until he received assurances that he could not be charged for carrying out the transfers.
“He wants immunity,” Nadia said.
“He wants legal protection,” the investigator corrected. “Whether he gets it is not our decision.”
The committee scheduled an interview under a limited proffer agreement. Ross would answer questions before prosecutors decided whether to offer immunity.
My father objected to the arrangement. “If he took part in hiding people, he shouldn’t get a deal.”
“Then the prosecutor can refuse it,” I said. “But if he has evidence about who gave the orders, we need to hear it.”
Arthur rubbed a hand over his face. He looked tired, but he was learning to sit with answers he could not control.
Ross appeared by secure video. He looked older than the man in the photograph but still recognizable. He admitted collecting the metal case and delivering it to Harlan’s office. He said he believed the container held only field notes.
“Did you know Nadia and Jonah were alive?” the prosecutor asked.
“Yes.”
“Did you know their identities had been changed?”
“Yes.”
“Who ordered it?”
“Warren Harlan.”
“Did Harlan act alone?”
Ross hesitated. “No.”
“Who else?”
“I was told there was an oversight chair.”
“Who?”
“I never met the person.”
“Did you hear a name?”
Ross stared at the screen. “Not directly.”
Nadia leaned toward the microphone. “Why did you tell Jonah his family was at risk?”
Ross looked at her. “Because Harlan told me it was true.”
“Did you verify it?”
“No.”
“Did you ever try to find me?”
“No.”
“Then you chose to keep the lie alive.”
Ross’s face tightened. “I followed orders.”
“So did the people who moved me. You all followed orders until you were comfortable enough to pretend you hadn’t chosen.”
The prosecutor asked who had been at the review meetings. Ross said he remembered one woman who had never appeared on the paperwork. He described her as tall, with a silver compass ring.
Helena Marsh had worn that ring.
Ross added that the woman had used another name: Mara Voss.
Nadia looked at me sharply.
May you like
Malcolm Voss’s sister had died years earlier, according to public records.
But Ross said she was alive.
