Chapter 9: The Interrogation Room
The interrogation room in the basement of the downtown precinct smelled of bleach and metallic despair. The stainless steel table reflected the harsh glare of the overhead fluorescent tube, casting stark shadows across Elena’s face. She sat with her arms crossed tightly over her red satin blouse, which was now wrinkled and stained at the cuffs. Her dark hair was pulled back into a severe ponytail, exposing the sharp angles of her jaw. Across the table sat her defense attorney, a sharp-suited man named Hayes who was busy tapping a pen against a legal pad.
Daniel stood by the observation mirror in the adjacent control room, watching Marcus step into the box to begin the formal questioning. The audio feed hissed slightly before stabilizing through the speakers.
"Let's go over the timeline of the address history again, Ms. Vance," Marcus said, his voice flat and professional. "According to the county registry, you've lived in six different municipalities in the last thirty-six months. Yet your employment records show no steady income to support that level of relocation."
Elena smirked, her lips twisting into a cold, defiant line. "I'm a private investor. I move where the opportunities are. If the police department spent half as much time looking into actual crime instead of harassing single mothers, the city might actually be safe."
May you like
"Private investors don't usually use stolen social security numbers or aliases to register their children for school," Marcus countered, sliding a copy of the Sarah Vance ID card across the stainless steel table.
Elena’s eyes flicked down to the laminated card, and for a split second, her composure fractured. The color drained from her cheeks, leaving her skin chalk-white under the fluorescent glare. Attorney Hayes immediately placed a restraining hand on her arm, leaning in to whisper something in her ear. Elena quickly recovered her mask of fury, glaring up at the two-way mirror as if she knew Daniel was standing right behind it, watching her every micro-expression.
