Then, after everyone assumed Mason would move back permanently, he sold
the house.
Naomi asked whether he was sure.
Mason said he had spent too many years imagining freedom as a return to
one address.
He wanted something else.
Arthur’s trust allowed the sale.
The proceeds were distributed according to the original terms.
Mason used part of his share to rebuild his life.
He used another part to create a small legal-aid fund supporting
credible post-conviction innocence investigations.
He named it the Arthur Reed Truth Fund.
At the launch, Walter arrived wearing his best jacket.
He carried the original yellow envelope inside a protective sleeve.
Mason laughed.
“You kept that?”
Walter smiled.
“Some envelopes get heavier after you open them.”
Mason looked at the faded paper.
Walter was right.
Inside that envelope had been grief.
A warning.
A key.
A father’s doubt.
And the first crack in a story everyone else had accepted as finished.
