Chapter 4: The Paper Trail**
At the downtown precinct, Detective Hayes laid out a Manila folder beneath the fluorescent lights of the interrogation room. Evelyn sat across the table, her attorney, Arthur Pendelton, hovering over her shoulder.
"My client has nothing to say," Pendelton stated firmly. "A child’s testimony is inadmissible in a capital murder case, Detective."
"We don't just have the child's word anymore, Counselor," Hayes replied calmly, sliding several bank statements and shipping invoices across the metal desk. "Three months ago, Evelyn wired twenty thousand dollars to an offshore pharmaceutical supplier in Belize. The compound was delivered to an abandoned post office box registered under her maiden name."
Evelyn stared at the documents, her icy blue eyes narrowing.
"Why, Evelyn?" Hayes leaned in, his voice dropping to a gravelly whisper. "Claire was giving your son a beautiful family. Why murder two innocent two-month-old infants?"
Evelyn offered a chilling, faint smirk. "Claire was a common waitress from the valley. She was poisoning Julian’s ambition. If he had children with her, he would never run for the Senate. He would stay mediocre. A mother’s duty is to prune the weeds so the family tree can grow strong."
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Pendelton closed his briefcase abruptly. "Evelyn, be quiet." But it was too late; the recording light blinked steadily in the corner of the ceiling.
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