Chapter 16 - THE THIRD SET OF INITIALS
Detective Price drew her weapon before Daniel understood that she had moved.
“Stay behind me.”
The kitchen remained empty.
The newly installed back door stood open by less than an inch. Cold air moved the curtain above the sink. Outside, the security light illuminated the patio, the silent lawn mower, and the maple tree Lauren had loved.
No person crossed the yard.
No car started.
Price cleared the first floor while Daniel remained near the stairs, listening for the sound he feared most.
Sophie was not home.
He had never been more grateful for an ordinary sleepover.
The birth certificate lay on the counter inside a transparent evidence bag bearing Officer Bell’s initials, a barcode, and the case number. Price photographed it before touching anything.
Then she called the property room.
Her voice changed halfway through the conversation.
“What do you mean it was released?”
She listened.
“To whom?”
The answer made her look directly at Daniel.
The bag had been removed from police storage forty-seven minutes earlier. The electronic release form carried the credentials of Derek Malloy, supervisor of the department’s evidence unit.
Malloy had also been the deputy who catalogued Lauren’s property after the crash.
The same report that listed her damaged phone as never recovered.
Price sealed the entire counter as a secondary crime scene. A technician found a thin memory card hidden beneath the evidence label. Whoever placed it there understood exactly how police packages were constructed.
The security company examined the smart lock.
The door had been opened using an installer-level override code. Only the locksmith, the manufacturer, and the account administrator should have possessed it.
The administrator’s password had been reset that afternoon from a computer inside the county evidence building.
Derek Malloy did not answer his phone.
Price called the laboratory and ordered the rest of Lauren’s recording examined immediately.
Daniel listened the next morning with Rachel Kim and an investigator present.
Lauren’s voice emerged beneath a low electrical hiss.
“Daniel, if you are hearing this, the woman raising Patricia’s granddaughter is not the person you think she is.”
A pause followed.
“I do not mean me. I mean the woman Patricia has named in the private-placement papers if she ever obtains custody of Sophie.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
“Rebecca Hall is Claire Caldwell. She works with Richard. Patricia believes Claire will help her protect Sophie, but Claire has helped Richard create new identities for children taken across state lines.”
Lauren inhaled shakily.
“I opened the custodial account because Detective Ortega asked me to help trace Richard’s transfers. The money was never for Patricia. I signed the bank form knowing what it was. I did not know Richard would attach my signature to other documents.”
The recording crackled.
Then Lauren said:
“The initials on the photograph identify the three people who can reach evidence before the truth reaches you. Richard Hale. Patricia Caldwell. Derek Malloy.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
D.M.
Not Daniel Mercer.
The letters had been a warning, not an accusation.
Lauren continued.
“Malloy removed my first report after the Phoenix trip. If something happens to me, do not let him handle my phone, my car, or Sophie’s birth records.”
Price looked toward the sealed certificate.
The voice on the recording lowered.
“Claire knows which vehicle touched mine. She also knows that Richard will kill her before he lets her explain why.”
The file ended.
Three hours later, police located Malloy’s car in the county parking garage.
The driver’s door was open.
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His identification remained on the seat.
On the concrete beside it lay a strip of Lauren’s blue scarf.
