Chapter 4 - The Secret In The Dashboard
By sunrise, Detective Walsh returned under the guise of taking my formal statement for the insurance adjusters. Jenna had stepped down to the hospital cafeteria to grab a coffee, giving us five uninterrupted minutes.
I didn't waste a second. I pulled the thumb drive recorder from the paper towel bundle and shoved it into his hand.
""He's working with Jenna,"" I said, my voice dead and cold. ""My sister. They have an affair. She has his antique locket in her bag right now with an inscription promising a future together. And Eric admitted on this recording that he paid Liam Torres.""
Walsh stared at me, his weathered face tightening with genuine sorrow. ""Maya... God, I am so sorry.""
""Don't be sorry,"" I hissed, leaning forward despite the violent throb in my broken pelvis. ""I want them both in prison. I want them to pay for every single bone they broke in my body. Tell me we have enough to arrest them right now.""
Walsh rubbed his chin, looking out the door’s window to ensure the hallway was clear. ""The recording is strong, Maya, but Eric didn't state her name on the call. He said 'you need to be patient.' A clever defense attorney could argue he was talking to another contractor, or that Jenna is completely innocent and simply being pursued by him. We need undeniable physical proof connecting both of them directly to the planning of the sabotage.""
""Where do we find that?""
Walsh leaned in closer. ""When your Honda was towed from the crash site to the impound lot, our forensics team examined the interior. Maya, did you install an aftermarket dashcam in that vehicle last year?""
My memory flashed back to last November. ""Yes. A dual-lens camera. One facing the windshield, one facing the cabin. But the windshield was obliterated in the crash. The tow truck driver said the camera was smashed to pieces.""
""The camera body was destroyed,"" Walsh agreed, pulling a small plastic evidence bag from his jacket pocket. Inside was a tiny, rectangular micro-SD card, slightly scuffed but intact. ""The memory card survived inside the reinforced metal housing. We recovered twenty hours of footage from the week leading up to your crash.""
""What’s on it?""
""The camera’s interior sensor has a motion-activated parking mode,"" Walsh said grimly. ""Three nights before your crash, Eric brought Jenna into the garage at 1:30 in the morning. They didn't realize the internal sensor woke up because the screen was set to sleep mode. The footage shows them opening the hood together. It shows Jenna holding a tactical flashlight while Eric points at the brake booster line, discussing where Torres should make the cut so it wouldn't leak until you hit highway speeds.""
I closed my eyes as a visceral wave of nausea rolled through my gut. My own sister had held the light while my husband plotted how to murder me.
""Is that enough?"" I whispered.
""It’s enough for a grand jury indictment,"" Walsh said. ""But Liam Torres gave us something else this morning during his second interrogation. He said Eric promised him an additional ten thousand dollars in cash that was kept in your master bedroom safe. Torres was supposed to get it yesterday, but Eric stalled because he couldn't get into the house without raising suspicion while Jenna was with you.""
""The master safe code,"" I realized. ""Only I have it. Eric thinks it’s keyed to my fingerprint.""
May you like
""Exactly,"" Walsh nodded. ""Eric is getting desperate. He owes Torres's associates, and if he doesn't pay, he knows Torres might implicate Jenna too. He is going to come to you today and ask for access to that safe, or ask you to sign a power of attorney so he can access your bank accounts directly.""
""Then let him ask,"" I said, cold fire replacing the blood in my veins. ""Tell me what you need me to do.""
