Single mother gambled her final $900 on a deserted house. The discovery inside transforms her life forever…

An old microcassette recorder, the kind used for dictation in the 1980s. And with it, a final note from Josephine. May 18, 1989.

Richard Patton is coming back tonight. He’s threatened to destroy everything if I don’t cooperate. This may be my last chance to record the truth.

If anything happens to me, let the truth be known. The attached microcassette contained a recording of Josephine’s voice, explaining in detail her research, Patton’s escalating threats, and her fear for her safety. Most damning of all, it included a recorded conversation where Patton explicitly threatened her life.

We have him, Maya whispered. After all these years, we have him. The next morning, Maya made two crucial phone calls.

The first was to Dr. Chen, who had found a Patton attorney willing to help protect Josephine’s research. The second was to the FBI field office in the potential murder and corporate conspiracy. To Maya’s surprise, the FBI agent on the phone seemed immediately interested, particularly when she mentioned Radcliffe Pharmaceuticals and Richard Patton.

We’ve had an open file on Patton for years, the agent explained, allegations of corporate espionage, bribery of officials, and suspected involvement in at least two other disappearances of research scientists. But we’ve never had enough evidence to move forward. If what you have is genuine, they arranged for Maya to meet with agents the following day.

Meanwhile, Sam’s cousin Andrea, the real estate attorney, arrived to examine the injunction against Maya’s ownership of the property. This is legally dubious at best, Andrea concluded after reviewing the documents. The judge is citing procedural errors that don’t actually exist in the county code.

It’s a delaying tactic, not a legitimate ruling. Can we fight it? Maya asked. Absolutely, but it will take time, weeks, possibly months.

In the meantime, technically, you can’t stay on the property. Before they could discuss further, Maya’s phone rang, an unknown number that she cautiously answered. Ms. Coleman, this is Catherine Weiland from the National Investigative Journal.

I understand you’ve made some interesting discoveries about Radcliffe Pharmaceuticals and a missing scientist named Josephine Mercer. Maya was stunned. How did you hear about this? Dr. Elaine Chen contacted us.

She thought your story needed national attention for your safety. I’d like to talk to you about what you found. The involvement of a national journalist changed the dynamics dramatically.

If the story broke publicly, Radcliffe would have a much harder time operating in the shadows. Catherine Weiland arrived later that day, a sharp-eyed woman in her 50s with decades of investigative reporting experience. She listened to Maya’s complete story, examined the evidence they’d gathered, and took detailed notes.

This is explosive, she concluded. A major pharmaceutical company suppressing a medical breakthrough, a brilliant scientist who disappeared under suspicious circumstances, and now threats against a single mother who discovered the truth. She looked at Maya seriously.

Are you prepared for what publishing this story will mean? Radcliffe will come at you with everything they have. They already are, Maya pointed out. At least this way, the truth will be out there, no matter what happens to me.

I’ll need to verify everything independently, Catherine warned. But if it checks out and I suspect it will, we’ll run the story next week. In the meantime, document everything and stay safe.

The next day, Maya met with the FBI agents, turning over copies of all the evidence they’d found. The agents were particularly interested in the voice recordings of Richard Patton and the coordinates to the location in the state forest. We’ll send a team to investigate those coordinates immediately…