March 18, 2023
RESEARCH
At the FBI office, Liz continued to work on Liam’s request. She went to the Beckley Post-Herald, The Raleigh Register, on February 27, 1972. The obituary section was ten pages long—Patrick O’Sullivan, age 65, of Man, West Virginia, a Logan County coal sludge impoundment dam flood casualty. The obituary list was long and filled eight full pages.
She researched Colvin Miller and discovered he had served in the Marines for three years. His records showed a special designation as a sniper. Curious, she whispered aloud, “Why only three years?”
Liz knew Asher Miller worked at the Necro Metallum Coal Mine in Naoma, owned by Robert Wingate III, so she searched for more information about NMC. The shareholder report ran an article about the founder Robert Wingate, who owned the underground coal mine and coal sludge impoundment dam in Logan County. NMC also had holdings in open-pit, strip, and mountaintop removal mining. The NMC mine in Naoma closed in 2010 because of multiple safety violations numbering 30. Three hundred people lost their jobs and filed a class action suit against NMC. She discovered mergers, acquisitions, takeovers, and political backroom deals, which continued to support and favor the big coal companies at any cost, even to the detriment of workers, the environment, and the community. Courts and some commissions ruled in favor of those same big coal companies that supported West Virginia politicians for favorable Congressional and Senate votes.
She found an obituary for Asher; Asher Miller, a long-time resident of Naoma, West Virginia, lost his battle after a long illness. Asher is survived by his mother, Rebecca Miller, and brother Colvin. Liz was now able to piece together the relationship between NMC and the family. Patrick and Asher lost their lives because of the company’s negligence.
Liam’s last request was a search on Clay Matthews. Liz discovered that he had been in the Army Rangers for three years, and their discharge dates were within days of each other. Her intuition told her there was something more to this, but it was late. That suspicion would have to wait until tomorrow.
Returning from the break room with a cup of coffee, she saw her computer monitor blinking with a security alert in large red letters. Liz shouted, “Oh shit!” ran to the server room, and shut the system off. She immediately called Liam.
“Liam, our computer system detected an intruder and averted a security breach. Just in case, I shut down the system, which is now rebooting. I will call our cybersecurity team in D.C. to see if they can track down the origin of the threat. There is no need for you to come in now.
“Are you sure, Liz?”
“Yes, I’m sure. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
Liz looked at her monitor. The system was still rebooting. She worried about the computer system, her research, and a future breach attempt. After ten minutes, the system had finished rebooting. Checking, she was relieved that all her investigation was still there. The phone rang.
“Hello, this is Special Agent Elizabeth Baldwin; how can I help you?”
“This is Agent Strom from the D.C. office. We have traced the IP address to a general area in West Virginia.”
“Any specifics?”
“Just something odd. It appears to have originated from a very rural area southwest of Naoma. Out in the middle of nowhere.”
“Thanks for the update. Let us know when you have more.”
Liz opened the top drawer, picked up a thumb drive, and inserted it into her computer. She pressed save, and the information transferred to the thumb drive. After removing it, she placed the thumb drive and a quickly scribbled note in the pale-green soapstone box on her desk. Her finger traced the smooth outline of one carved elephant. Her fingertip rested on the lapis lazuli deep violet-blue eyes, and she recalled when Liam gave her the intricately carved soapstone box. She was in Afghanistan, and it was an unexpected small gift that she cherished.