CHAPTER 2 – The Phone Was Never Missing... It Was Hidden
Emily walked toward the witness stand without taking her eyes off Ryan's family.
"You've all been asking where Ryan's phone went," she said calmly.
"It never disappeared."
"It was hidden."
The courtroom fell completely silent.
The prosecutor immediately objected.
"Your Honor, this evidence wasn't submitted during discovery!"
Emily looked directly at him.
"Because someone made sure investigators would never find it."
The judge leaned forward.
"Explain."
Emily took a slow breath.
"The night before Ryan died... he called me."
"I ignored the call."
Her voice cracked for the first time.
"It was the biggest mistake of my life."
After his funeral, guilt consumed her.
She searched every place Ryan used to hide important belongings.
One evening, while cleaning his vintage record collection, she noticed one vinyl album felt unusually heavy.
Inside the sleeve...
Wrapped in plastic...
Was this phone.
Ryan had hidden it himself.
But why?
Emily entered the password.
Only one thing opened automatically.
A scheduled video message.
Ryan appeared on the screen, exhausted and terrified.
"If you're watching this... I'm probably already dead."
The courtroom gasped.
Ryan continued.
"I've discovered someone inside my own company has been stealing millions."
"I trusted him like family."
"I have proof."
Then Ryan slowly turned the camera.
Standing behind him...
Was someone nobody expected.
Not Daniel.
Not a stranger.
But Ryan's own younger brother...
The same man sitting only a few feet away inside the courtroom.
He instantly stood up.
"That video is fake!"
But before anyone could react...
Emily reached into the evidence bag again.
"There wasn't just a phone."
"There was also this."
A tiny encrypted flash drive.
The object everyone had overlooked.
The object that would expose a conspiracy far bigger than a single murder.
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And suddenly...
The man everyone thought was the victim's grieving brother became the prime suspect in front of the entire courtroom.
