Chapter 7: The Alibi Trap
"That's a lie!" Maya screamed, stepping back until her shoulders pressed against the metal autopsy table. "He murdered Clara! He forced me to help him trap Julian!"
Agent Miller didn't flinch. He wiped his fingers on a handkerchief, his expression remaining entirely neutral. He signaled to a medic who had just entered the room carrying a heavy-duty portable cutting saw.
"Officer, cut Mr. Hayes out of that concrete," Miller ordered, before turning his cold gaze back to Maya. "As for your claims, Miss Vance, your father’s legal team filed an emergency conservatorship petition three days ago, citing your erratic behavior and paranoia related to his pharmaceutical research."
Julian winced as the medic knelt beside the table, firing up the whining diamond-blade saw. A spray of fine gray dust and white sparks filled the air as the blade bit into the edge of the hardened cement block encasing Julian’s left hand.
"He staged the whole thing," Julian shouted over the deafening whine of the saw. "Check his lab coat pocket! He has the master access keys to the underground server!"
Alistair stood calmly near the doorway, flanked by two armed operatives. He offered Julian a faint, pitying smile—the look of a concerned father dealing with a troubled patient.
"You see, Agent Miller?" Alistair spoke up smoothly. "The boy is deeply delusional. He believes our research is malicious, and he infected my daughter with these paranoid fantasies."
Miller ignored Alistair and walked over to the ventilation shaft where the voice recorder had been thrown. He shined a heavy tactical flashlight up into the dark metal pipe, but the shaft was completely empty, branching off into a complex labyrinth of HVAC tunnels that spanned the entire building foundation.
"The shaft is clear," Miller announced grimly, turning back to face Maya and Julian. "No recorder. No physical evidence supporting your story, Miss Vance. Just a dead assistant, a student trapped in concrete, and a father who claims he was trying to save you both."
Maya shook her head frantically, tears finally spilling over her lashes. "No... no, look at my boots! Clara's blood is all over them! My fingerprints are on the bucket!"
"Yes," Miller agreed quietly. "Your fingerprints are on the bucket. Your boots are covered in the victim's blood. And your father’s security logs show you initiated the lock-down sequence from the interior console."
Julian felt a cold shiver run down his spine as the diamond saw bit deeper into the cement, finally cracking the block apart and freeing his mangled, bleeding left hand. He pulled his hand free with a sharp cry of pain, the skin raw and stripped of flesh.
"She tried to stop him," Julian growled, clutching his ruined hand to his chest as he glared at Miller. "If you arrest her, you're playing right into his hands."
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Agent Miller crouched down beside Julian, his face inches away, and lowered his voice to a whisper that only the two of them could hear.
"I'm not playing into anyone's hands, Mr. Hayes," Miller whispered, slipping a small, unmarked USB drive into Julian’s bloody palm before standing back up. "Dr. Vance thinks he’s wiped the servers. But Clara was smarter than he knew. Now, get out of here before the real cleanup crew arrives."
