She ended the call and took his hand.
For once, the answer did not depend on a document.
The man who bought Michael's van did not think he was purchasing a stolen life. He thought he was buying a salvage vehicle through a contractor whose paperwork showed municipal authorization. His name was Elliot Weller, and he ran a small repair yard outside Merrow Falls with one employee and a dog that disliked delivery trucks.
The van arrived on a flatbed. Its shelving made it useful for a conversion project, but the body damage listed in the sale notes did not match what Weller saw. He began removing the interior, then found a folder wedged behind the glove compartment.
Inside were service receipts, a photograph of Michael beside the van, and a handwritten list of customers waiting for repairs.
Weller called the auction contact. He was told personal effects would be collected and any ownership questions should be directed to the city. He stopped further work because the answer did not satisfy his insurer. The file remained unresolved until the hearing brought the van into public view.
State investigator Nadia Flores visited him after the disposal records identified the transaction. An independent inquiry had been assigned to examine the report changes, evidence handling, and vehicle transfers. She asked Weller to preserve the van, paperwork, messages, and items removed from the interior.
He agreed. His lawyer helped clarify the competing claims. Nobody pretended the fact that he acted in good faith made ownership simple.
The eventual inspection was arranged with all parties informed and the required authority in place. Michael attended with Hannah and Talia. He had imagined finding the van beyond recognition. In reality, the familiar rust patch hurt more than destruction would have.
The sliding door stood open. One shelf had been removed. The passenger seat, already loose at the rail, rested beside the wall. Michael looked at its tilted cushion and put one hand over his mouth.
Weller stayed several feet away.
His employee waited near the workshop entrance, uncertain whether to help. Weller sent him inside to locate every receipt associated with the transfer. There would be no useful kindness in guessing what had happened to an item. Michael needed the records of what reached the yard, including the details that might prove embarrassing.
"I didn't know," he said.
Michael nodded without looking at him. He believed him. It did not make the scene easier to bear.
Flores documented the condition and identified the items requiring separate inventory. A few tools were present. Some were missing. Weller supplied photographs from the vehicle's arrival, establishing what had and had not reached his yard.
The work would distinguish losses at the impound facility, losses during transfer, and changes made after the sale. That precision mattered if Michael was ever to receive something more useful than everyone's general sympathy.
In the driver's cab, the air still smelled faintly of grease and the peppermint Talia kept in the cup holder. Michael sat without closing the door. His hands found the worn places on the steering wheel.
He had expected anger. What arrived was grief for months when the van existed somewhere nearby while he borrowed rides and explained missed jobs.
Talia stood beside the door. "The seat still leans."
He nodded.
"Nobody stole that improvement."
He laughed once, helplessly, then covered his face. She rested a hand on his shoulder and let the laugh become whatever it needed to become.
Later, Weller brought out the folder. The photograph inside showed Michael younger, smiling beside new plywood shelves. Talia recognized the day. They had eaten sandwiches on the curb because the driveway belonged to a friend who wanted his car space back.
Flores arranged for the necessary copies and documentation before the personal photograph could be returned. Michael held it by the edges, careful with a piece of his own history because it had become evidence.
On the way home, he asked whether he could buy the van back if the other process took too long.
Hannah explained why paying again might create complications they should consider before doing anything. She did not make him feel foolish for wanting an ordinary solution to a problem built from official ones.
"I just want to drive it," he said.
"I know."
That evening, Flores compared Weller's documents with Northstar's files. The authorization category used to move the van appeared on eighteen other transfers requiring further review. Not all were necessarily improper. Several had complete supporting orders.