Where Did You Get This Car
Chapter 04 - Where Did You Get This Car
Maya questioned Blake in Chen Auto’s conference room the next morning.
His attorney sat beside him.
Riley attended as the reporting shop owner. Frank stood near the door.
The Aston Martin remained sealed in storage.
Maya placed a recorder on the table.
“Where did you acquire the vehicle?”
Blake looked at his attorney.
“Through Carl Ashford.”
“How did you meet him?”
“Business club.”
“Name?”
“The Westbridge Club.”
“What did Carl promise?”
“Access.”
“To what?”
“Cars not publicly listed.”
Riley watched Blake’s fingers tap the table.
“What price did you pay?” Maya asked.
“Two hundred ten thousand.”
Frank made a quiet sound.
Market value was closer to three hundred.
“Why the discount?”
“Distressed seller.”
“Who?”
“I wasn’t told.”
“Did that concern you?”
“Carl said discretion was part of the arrangement.”
Riley touched the wrench in her pocket.
“Discretion is not ownership history.”
Blake looked at her.
“I know that now.”
Maya asked for payment records.
Blake’s attorney produced wire confirmations.
Money moved to Ashford Motor Acquisitions, an LLC with no dealer license and a mailbox address.
“Have you purchased other vehicles through Carl?”
Blake looked down.
“How many?”
“Three.”
Maya’s pen stopped.
A Mercedes G-Wagon.
A vintage Porsche.
A Range Rover.
All discounted.
All passed through shifting entities.
“Where are they?”
“Two sold. One at my second residence.”
“To whom did you sell?”
“Private buyers.”
“Did you disclose how you acquired them?”
“I had titles.”
“That is not what I asked.”
Blake looked toward the window.
Riley recognized the movement.
People looked away when truth became expensive.
“Did you suspect anything?” Maya asked.
“No.”
His attorney shifted.
Blake corrected himself.
“I thought Carl had unusual connections.”
“What kind?”
“Estate sales. Divorce liquidations. Overseas clients.”
“Did you verify?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“The paperwork looked real.”
Riley looked at him.
“And the price?”
He said nothing.
Maya asked whether Carl ever discussed VIN changes, storage locations, or cash fees.
Blake denied it all.
His attorney ended the interview after promising full records.
---
Blake followed Riley into the bay.
Frank moved to intervene.
Riley lifted one hand.
Blake stopped several feet away.
“I’m sorry I hit you.”
The apology sounded prepared.
Riley looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because it was wrong.”
“Before or after you learned I owned the shop?”
His face reddened.
“That’s unfair.”
“No. It’s the question.”
Blake looked toward the technicians.
“I lost control.”
“You believed I was beneath consequence.”
“That isn’t true.”
“You said people like me didn’t belong near your car.”
“I was angry.”
“Anger did not invent the belief.”
The bay went quiet around them.
Blake looked at the sealed storage door.
“What happens to my car?”
“It goes to its rightful owner if the report is confirmed.”
“I paid for it.”
“So did the person it was stolen from.”
He absorbed that badly.
Riley continued.
“Your claim is against Carl.”
“You’re enjoying this.”
“No.”
The answer came honestly.
She hated the slap, the scattered tools, and the risk to the shop.
Pleasure was not required for accountability.
Maya emerged from the office.
“We found preliminary flags on the Porsche and G-Wagon.”
Blake went still.
“What flags?”
“Title irregularities.”
His attorney appeared behind her.
“Do not answer further.”
Blake looked between them.
Three purchases.
Three discounts.
Three times choosing convenience over questions.
Riley touched the old wrench.
“You didn’t just get unlucky with one car, did you, Blake?”
His jaw tightened.
“You’ve been buying stolen property for a while and telling yourself not to ask questions.”
---
Maya requested Blake’s purchase emails.
One subject line read PRIVATE OPPORTUNITY, 24 HOURS ONLY.
Carl promised a vehicle from a divorcing executive who needed immediate liquidity.
No seller name.
No auction listing.
Blake replied within eleven minutes.
Can you hold it if I wire today?
Riley read the exchange over Maya’s shoulder.
“He created urgency.”
Maya nodded.
“Urgency reduces questions.”
Another email warned Blake not to involve a manufacturer dealership because the owner wanted discretion.
Blake had replied with a thumbs-up.
His attorney objected to Riley seeing private messages.
Maya closed the laptop.
“She is a witness to the vehicle inspection, not a party to your client communications.”
Riley stepped back.
Again, boundaries.
She did not need every secret to know the shape of the choice.
After the interview, Blake stood alone near the customer entrance.
His driver had not arrived.
For the first time, he looked ordinary.
No car.
No audience.
He asked Frank for coffee.
Frank handed him a paper cup without comment.
Riley watched from the bay.
Compassion did not require forgetting danger.
Frank could offer coffee while cameras recorded and police remained nearby.
Blake drank once, then looked at the cup as if surprised it was not punishment.
Riley returned to the intake photographs.
The scratch was visible before service.
A small fact.
It mattered because Blake had used it to justify violence.
She printed the image and placed it in the assault file.
The car had carried evidence of theft.
The photograph carried evidence of his lie.
---
Before leaving, Maya asked Blake for the names of the private buyers who purchased the Porsche and Range Rover.
He said he needed to check records.
Riley looked at him.
“You remembered the discount without checking.”
Blake’s attorney objected.
Maya did not.
The point remained in the room.
May you like
Blake remembered what made him feel clever. He forgot what created responsibility.
That difference would follow every later interview.
