Chapter 4 - The Interrogation Room
The interrogation room at the county sheriff’s substation smelled of stale coffee, old floor wax, and manufactured pine.
Detective Sarah Kincaid sat across the metal table from Tyler Harrison. The nineteen-year-old was still wearing his designer polo shirt, though it was now rumpled and stained with anxiety. He tried to project an air of nonchalant boredom, tapping his fingers against the laminate table.
"I don't know why I'm here," Tyler said, rolling his eyes and offering a practiced, boyish smirk. "My sister is a headcase. Everyone knows it. She falls down all the time. Ask my parents."
Detective Kincaid didn't smile. She leaned forward, resting her forearms on the table, her piercing gaze locking onto Tyler’s eyes.
"Tyler, let's talk about what happened at the top of the stairs at 6:42 PM," Kincaid said evenly.
"She tripped."
"The witnesses—including Aunt Caroline, who was sitting directly across the room—say you stepped directly into her path, shoved your hands against her shoulders, and watched her fall down a flight of thirteen hardwood steps."
Tyler scoffed, crossing his arms defensively. "Caroline hates our family. She’s jealous because Dad is successful. Olivia was walking too fast, she slipped, and now she’s milking it for all it’s worth. She loves playing the victim."
"Is that also how she got the healed fractures on her T10 and L2 vertebrae?" Kincaid asked softly, sliding an 8x10 glossy print of the medical X-rays across the table.
Tyler glanced down at the image. For a split second, the arrogant mask slipped. His pupils dilated, and his throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. The white lines on the scan weren't just lines—they were a map of his own violence, caught in permanent, undeniable calcium deposits inside his sister's bones.
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"I... I don't know what that is," Tyler stammered, his voice cracking slightly. "People fall! Stairs are dangerous!"
"Stairs are dangerous," Kincaid agreed, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "But gravity doesn't leave hand-shaped bruising patterns on a victim's back, Tyler. And it certainly doesn't rewrite medical history."
