Thomas pulled the tarp back. It was a 1987 Mercedes-Benz, in perfect showroom condition. But the tires were flat, and the windshield was shattered—from the inside.
[readalso]
On the hood of the car sat a leather briefcase. It wasn’t dusty. It looked like it had been placed there recently, or the environment was so sealed it was preserved perfectly. I opened the latches.
It wasn’t money. It was a stack of cassette tapes and a dossier of photos. I picked up the first photo. It showed a high-ranking French politician accepting a bribe. The man who owned this house hadn’t fled; he was a whistleblower who was about to go public. And looking at the shattered windshield, I realized they never made it out of the garage.
[readalso]