Chapter 3 - The Phone in the Wall
The word echoed through the living room like a gunshot.
My mother gasped, falling against the wall, while Derek stumbled backward until his back hit the kitchen counter.
"Dad..." I stepped toward my father, helping him sink back into his chair as he trembled violently from the sheer physical exertion of speaking. "Dad, tell me."
My father grabbed my forearm with his left hand, his grip surprisingly strong. He pointed his finger toward the hallway wall, right beneath the old wooden rotary telephone shelf that hadn't been used in fifteen years.
Sheriff Miller walked over to the wooden paneling. He tapped his knuckle against the pine boards. A hollow thud echoed back.
"Hayes, get a crowbar from the cruiser," Miller said.
"You can't tear down my house!" my mother screamed, rushing forward, her hands clawing at Miller's coat. "Alex, stop them! They are destroying our home!"
I stepped between my mother and the sheriff, staring down at her with absolute disgust. "If you have nothing to hide, Mother, why are you shaking?"
Deputy Hayes returned with a heavy yellow crowbar. With two swift levers, he popped the old pine paneling off the wall studs. Inside the wall cavity, resting on top of a pile of dusty insulation, lay a cracked white iPhone wrapped in a blood-stained dish towel.
It was Clara's phone.
Sheriff Miller donned fresh nitrile gloves and carefully lifted the phone. The screen was shattered, but when he pressed the power button, the display flickered to life. The lock screen showed a photo of Clara and Lily laughing at a sunflower farm last summer.
"Deputy, secure this immediately. Get the tech department to bypass the passcode," Miller ordered. He then turned to my brother, whose face was completely drained of color. "Derek Sterling, you are being placed under arrest for obstruction of justice and suspicion of tampering with evidence. You have the right to remain silent..."
"No! It wasn't me! It wasn't my idea!" Derek panicked as the steel handcuffs clicked tightly around his wrists. He looked frantically at my mother. "Mom, tell him! Tell him Mr. Vance said it was the only way!"
The room went dead silent.
"Mr. Vance?" I repeated, the blood running cold in my veins. "What does my boss have to do with my wife's death?"
My mother slapped Derek across the face with a loud CRACK. "Shut your mouth, you foolish boy!"
"That's enough!" Sheriff Miller barked, pulling my mother back. "Teresa Sterling, you are also coming to the station for questioning."
Aunt Beatrice slowly backed toward the front door, trying to slip out into the evening mist, but a second deputy stepped onto the porch, blocking her path. "You're not going anywhere either, ma'am. The county coroner is on his way to inspect the body before it leaves this house."
As the police led my mother and brother toward the patrol cars, I sat on the porch steps beside my father and daughter.
Lily snuggled against my side, hiding her face in my jacket. "Daddy, is Mommy going to wake up?"
I pulled her close, tears finally spilling over my cheeks as I stared at the dark trees bordering our property. "No, baby. Mommy's gone. But I promise you, I'm going to make sure the people who hurt her pay for every single second."
My father reached over, laying his rough hand over mine, and nodded slowly.
May you like
Ten minutes later, Sheriff Miller walked back out onto the porch holding his department tablet. His face was grim.
"Alex," Miller said quietly. "We just got the preliminary read off that memory card your father hid. You need to see this."
