Detective Chen looked directly at Evelyn.
“Do you still have the spare key fob?”
“Of course not.”
“Then you won’t mind if we search.”
For just a fraction of a second, Evelyn instinctively reached toward the pocket of her coat.
That single movement was all Detective Chen needed. Officers recovered Rachel’s missing key fob from Evelyn’s pocket and found Rachel’s cellphone inside her purse. The confident smile Evelyn had worn since walking into my house disappeared instantly.
Her attorney protested that she was being detained unlawfully, but Detective Chen calmly replied,
“Your client is on video taking the victim’s phone, locking a mother and newborn inside a vehicle, abandoning them at the scene, and leaving with both the key and the victim’s property. She isn’t going anywhere.”
Tyler slowly backed against the wall.
“I… I didn’t know she put anything in the drink.”
Evelyn turned toward him so quickly that even her lawyer flinched.
“Be quiet.”
“You said it would just calm Rachel down.”
“Tyler.”
“You said we only needed her confused long enough to get her to sign the papers.”
Detective Chen looked directly at him.
“You should stop talking until you’ve spoken with your own attorney.”
For the first time that day…
…the truth had completely outrun every lie they had prepared.
