Chapter 14 - A Story the News Never Told
The note changed everything.
The detectives immediately instructed every officer outside the bus to widen the search perimeter. Nearby intersections were closed, traffic cameras were requested, and dispatch began tracing the stolen gray sedan.
Inside the bus, no one complained about the delay anymore.
Every passenger understood they had become witnesses to something much larger than a disagreement over a seat.
Detective Harris returned to Ethan.
"I need you to think carefully."
Ethan nodded weakly.
"Has anyone threatened you before today?"
He hesitated.
"Not directly."
"What does that mean?"
"There were strange phone calls."
"How many?"
"Three."
"When?"
"Over the past two weeks."
"What did they say?"
"They never spoke."
"They only stayed on the line."
"And then?"
"I could hear breathing."
The detective wrote everything down.
"Anything else?"
Ethan looked toward the floor.
"My apartment door was open one evening."
"Was anything stolen?"
"No."
"So why didn't you report it?"
"I thought I forgot to lock it."
The nurse interrupted quietly.
"Victims often explain away warning signs."
Harris nodded.
"Unfortunately, that's true."
The older gentleman from Riverside Bridge suddenly spoke.
"I remember something."
Everyone looked toward him.
"When Ethan saved me..."
"He wasn't alone."
"There was another young man."
Ethan frowned.
"No..."
Then his eyes widened.
"Daniel."
The name sounded unfamiliar to everyone else.
"Who's Daniel?" Harris asked.
"My roommate."
"Where is he now?"
"I haven't seen him in almost a month."
"What happened?"
"He suddenly moved out."
"Did he explain why?"
"He said someone offered him work in another city."
The detective typed rapidly into his phone.
"Last name?"
"Mercer."
Within seconds, Collins received a response from dispatch.
His expression froze.
"Harris..."
"What?"
"Daniel Mercer died eighteen days ago."
Silence swept across the bus.
Ethan stared at him.
"That's impossible."
Collins slowly lowered the phone.
"His death was ruled an accident."
"But..."
He looked directly at Ethan.
May you like
"The case has just been reopened."
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