Chapter 8 - The Interrogation
By four o'clock in the morning, the interrogation wing of the county sheriff's department was packed with state investigators, EPA officials, and federal prosecutors.
I sat behind a one-way mirror in the observation room with Sheriff Miller, watching my brother Derek sit in a small, windowless interrogation room across the hall.
Derek was weeping, his face buried in his hands, as a senior state prosecutor laid out photographs of the toxic waste dump sites found on the USB drive Clara had hidden.
"Your mother signed the land transfer documents, Derek," the prosecutor said coldly, sliding a paper across the metal table. "Vance paid her eighty thousand dollars into a secret offshore account to allow him to bury four hundred drums of industrial solvent on your family's lower pasture land."
"She said... she said it was just clean fill dirt!" Derek sobbed out, pulling at his hair. "She told me Vance was just helping us pay off Dad's medical bills!"
"And what happened on Tuesday night, Derek?" the prosecutor pressed, leaning forward. "Tell us the truth, or you're facing first-degree murder charges along with Vance."
Derek looked up, his eyes bloodshot and terrified.
"Vance came to the house," Derek stammered, his voice trembling through the speaker in our room. "Clara had locked herself in the bedroom. She called Mom from her phone and said she was going to the federal building in Columbus the next morning with the USB drive. Mom panicked. She unlocked the door and let Vance inside."
I closed my eyes, my fist clenching until my nails bit into my palm.
"I stayed in the hallway with Lily," Derek continued, tears streaming down his face. "I heard yelling... then a loud crash. When I ran in, Vance was standing over Clara. She was unconscious on the floor. Vance... Vance had a syringe. He injected something into her neck. He said it was a heavy sedative that would make her heart stop, and then he made us help him set up the scene to make it look like she hung herself from the closet beam!"
"And your mother helped?" the prosecutor asked.
"Mom was terrified of Vance!" Derek cried. "Vance told her that if anyone found out, he'd destroy our whole family! Mom took Clara's phone and locked Lily in the room so she couldn't call for help!"
Beside me, Sheriff Miller let out a heavy sigh, shaking his head in absolute disgust. "It was lethal sodium pentothal overdose. The toxicology report just came back from the state lab. She didn't hang herself, Alex. She was poisoned."
The door to the observation room opened, and my attorney walked in, holding a stack of legal documents.
"Alex," my attorney said softly. "Your mother just signed a full confession in exchange for taking the death penalty off the table. She admitted to staging the scene, tampering with evidence, and child endangerment."
I didn't feel any sense of victory. I just felt a deep, hollow emptiness. The people who were supposed to be my family—my own mother and brother—had betrayed the purest soul in our lives for money and cowardice.
"What about my father?" I asked, looking up.
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"Your father's statement was recorded by the state police an hour ago," the attorney replied. "He's officially filed for divorce from your mother, and he's transferring full legal ownership of the family estate and land to you and Lily."
I stood up, adjusting my jacket. "I need to go home to my daughter."
