Chapter 3 - CLARA'S PHONE
Clara’s phone was missing.
That was the first concrete problem.
Alex asked police.
They had not seized it because the death initially appeared medical.
The house had been full of family before paramedics arrived.
Who last saw the phone?
Lily said:
“Grandma had it.”
Teresa stared at her.
Alex looked up slowly.
“Mom?”
Teresa answered:
“Clara gave it to me.”
Lily immediately shook her head.
“No.”
Everyone looked at the child.
Teresa’s face hardened.
Lily whispered:
“Mommy said give it back.”
Alex stood.
Teresa said:
“She was upset. She was calling you over and over. I took the phone because she needed to calm down.”
The room went silent.
Alex asked:
“When?”
“Before she collapsed.”
“How long before?”
“Maybe twenty minutes.”
“Where is it now?”
Teresa swallowed.
“I don’t know.”
Alex laughed once.
His wife died trying to call him.
His mother took the phone.
Now the phone was gone.
Police reopened the scene review that afternoon.
Not as murder automatically.
As an unexplained death with potentially relevant missing evidence.
That distinction mattered.
Then Derek left the house.
Alex noticed.
May you like
So did Detective Hannah Cole.
She followed.
