Chapter 5 - The Confession in the Dark
The interrogation room at the county precinct smelled of stale coffee and industrial disinfectant. Through the two-way mirror, I could see Elena sitting hunched over a metal table, her eyes hollow, her hands cuffed to the bolted-down chair. She looked like a ghost of the vibrant woman I had married years ago.
Detective Vance walked in, tossing a thick manila folder onto the desk in front of me. "She won't speak, Mr. Miller. She’s completely catatonic. Her lawyer is already en route, but based on the physical evidence, the prosecution is going to push for the death penalty. Open-and-shut case."
"She’s drugged!" I slammed my hand against the table. "Julian has been poisoning her for months! Look at her medical records—check her bloodwork for scopolamine or heavy sedatives!"
"We ran a preliminary toxicology screen," Vance sighed, leaning against the wall. "Her system is clean. No unusual sedatives found in her blood current draw."
Clean? That was impossible. Maya had seen Julian give her the drops every single night.
"He changed her bloodwork," I whispered, the horrifying truth dawning on me. "Julian is a former pharmaceutical rep. He knows how to manipulate lab results. He must have swapped her samples during her routine physical last week."
Vance didn't look convinced. "That’s a heavy conspiracy theory, Mr. Miller. Right now, your daughter is in protective custody downtown, and you're a person of interest because you admitted to trespassing and destroying property."
Before Vance could say another word, the precinct lights flickered violently. A sharp, high-pitched electrical whine echoed through the building, followed by a total blackout. Emergency backup generators kicked in a second later, bathing the hallways in an eerie, sickly red hue.
The precinct door burst open, and a junior officer ran down the corridor, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Detective Vance! Cell block B! Julian... he just escaped!"
May you like
I leaped out of my chair. "How?! He was in a holding cell!"
"He didn't break out," the officer panted, his eyes wide with terror. "The guard assigned to watch him... was found dead in the breakroom. Throat slashed with a surgical scalpel. And on the wall in the holding cell, written in the guard's blood, is a message addressed specifically to David Miller."
