Chapter 6 - The Judge's Denial
The apartment remained silent after Officer Marcus Hale revealed the shocking news.
"The judge never signed it."
Rachel stared at him, unable to process what she had just heard.
"What... what does that mean?"
Detective Susan Ortega answered before Hale could.
"It means someone may have committed felony document fraud."
Attorney Melissa Grant immediately shook her head.
"That's impossible."
"Is it?" Ortega asked calmly.
"The clerk from the courthouse verified that Judge Collins has been attending a judicial conference in another county since yesterday afternoon. According to his staff, he personally reviewed this case several days ago but refused to approve an emergency removal order because the evidence wasn't strong enough."
Rachel slowly lowered herself onto a chair.
"He... refused?"
"Yes."
"So how did this order appear?"
"That's exactly what we're going to find out."
Officer Hale spread every page of the custody packet across the dining table.
Each document suddenly looked different.
Different signatures.
Different stamps.
Different formatting.
Things that had seemed perfectly ordinary only an hour earlier now appeared strangely inconsistent.
Detective Ortega photographed every page.
"We'll send these to the forensic document unit."
Melissa Grant folded her arms.
"My office received those documents electronically from the court."
Hale looked directly at her.
"Who sent them?"
"I'll have to check."
"When?"
Melissa hesitated.
"I... don't remember."
Rachel noticed it immediately.
"You remember."
Melissa ignored her.
Officer Hale quietly placed a business card on the table.
"Ms. Grant, I suggest you remember before investigators obtain your email records."
For the first time all morning, the attorney had nothing to say.
Just then another detective entered carrying a laptop.
"We pulled security footage from the courthouse."
Everyone looked up.
"The timestamp matches when the order was supposedly filed."
"Show us."
The detective opened the video.
A courthouse hallway appeared.
Court employees walked back and forth carrying files.
The clerk's office remained busy.
Several minutes passed.
Then Detective Ortega paused the recording.
"There."
A man wearing a dark baseball cap approached the filing counter.
His face remained partially hidden beneath the brim.
He handed over an envelope.
The clerk accepted it without hesitation.
"What happened next?" Hale asked.
The video continued.
The man turned and walked away.
Before leaving the hallway, he briefly glanced toward the security camera.
Only for a second.
Just enough for everyone to notice one familiar detail.
A silver watch with a cracked leather band.
Rachel's breathing stopped.
"I know that watch."
Officer Hale turned toward her.
"Where have you seen it?"
Rachel looked at the frozen frame.
Daniel rarely wore jewelry.
But there was one thing he never replaced.
"His brother."
Everyone stared.
"Daniel's younger brother, Eric."
Rachel leaned closer to the screen.
"He inherited that watch from their father after the funeral."
Detective Ortega zoomed in.
The cracked brown leather strap matched Rachel's description perfectly.
Officer Hale made another note.
"So Daniel may not have acted alone."
Rachel slowly nodded.
"He never does."
The detective closed the laptop.
"Then we need to find Eric Whitmore."
At that exact moment, another officer rushed into the apartment without knocking.
"Hale."
"What is it?"
"We've located Daniel's vehicle."
"Where?"
The officer took a slow breath.
"It isn't at his house."
"Then where?"
"It's parked behind an abandoned warehouse on the edge of the industrial district."
Rachel felt a chill run through her body.
"Why would he be there?"
No one answered.
Because every experienced investigator in the room was thinking the same thing.
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People rarely fled to abandoned buildings...
Unless they were hiding something far more dangerous than forged paperwork.
