Chapter 3 - The Interrogation Room
Within twenty minutes, the trauma room was swarming with hospital security, city police detectives, and emergency surgical teams. Emily was wheeled frantically into Operating Room 3 for an emergency radical debridement and possible amputation to save her life.
Daniel was cornered against the nurse’s station by Detective Vance, a seasoned veteran with cold, gray eyes and a notebook ready.
“Mr. Harris, you’re going to come with us down to the precinct for questioning,” Detective Vance said, flashing a pair of steel handcuffs. “Withholding medical aid resulting in severe bodily harm and potential manslaughter charges is a serious matter.”
“You can’t arrest me!” Daniel shrieked, his voice cracking into high-pitched panic as he tried to push past the officer. “I’m a respected executive! My wife is clumsy! She locked herself in the basement workshop and broke her arm on her own tools! I just... I just didn't want the liability!”
“Basement workshop?” Detective Vance raised an eyebrow, flipping a page in his notebook. “According to our initial sweep of your residence, your wife hasn't left the master bedroom suite in over six weeks. Neighbors haven't seen her since early August. And your browser history shows multiple searches for ‘what happens if a broken bone is left untreated’ and ‘signs of severe tissue necrosis’ dating back three weeks.”
Daniel froze, the color draining entirely from his face. Every lie he had constructed crumbled into dust right there under the fluorescent lights of the emergency ward.
“You knew,” I said quietly, stepping out of the trauma bay with my bloody surgical gown discarded for a clean lab coat. “You knew the infection was spreading. You watched her fingers turn purple, you smelled the rot seeping through the cast, and instead of calling an ambulance, you waited for her to slip into a coma so you wouldn't have to answer questions about how her arm got that way in the first place.”
Daniel glared at me with pure, unadulterated venom. “She was a liability, okay? She found out about the offshore accounts, she threatened to divorce me and take everything I built. I couldn't have a messy public divorce ruining my merger. I just needed her to stay quiet until the corporate transfer went through next month!”
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Detective Vance didn't waste another second. He grabbed Daniel’s arms, forced them behind his back, and slapped the handcuffs onto his wrists with a sharp, metallic click.
“Daniel Harris, you are under arrest for attempted murder, aggravated domestic abuse, and criminal endangerment,” Detective Vance recited coldly as he hauled the struggling, screaming executive toward the elevators.
