Chapter 14 - A Voice From the Past
Michael arrived at the downtown police station less than twenty minutes after Detective Bennett's call.
The building was surrounded by patrol cars and unmarked SUVs. News crews had not yet learned what was happening, and Bennett intended to keep it that way.
Emily sat alone inside a small interview room.
She wore the same hospital clothing she had disappeared in, except someone had draped a gray coat over her shoulders. Her hands rested quietly on the table.
She looked exhausted.
Not frightened.
As if she had spent years preparing for this exact moment.
When Michael entered, she slowly raised her eyes.
Neither of them spoke for several seconds.
Finally, Emily whispered,
"I'm sorry."
Michael pulled out the chair across from her.
"I don't want an apology."
"What do you want?"
"The truth."
Emily closed her eyes.
"I've wanted to tell you hundreds of times."
"Then why didn't you?"
"Because every time I tried..."
She stopped.
"...someone reminded me what would happen."
Michael leaned forward.
"Who?"
Emily looked toward the observation mirror.
"They're probably listening even now."
Detective Bennett quietly entered the room.
"The interview room has already been swept."
Emily gave a sad smile.
"You still think they use microphones."
"They don't need to."
Bennett frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Emily slowly reached into her pocket.
Every officer in the room tensed.
Instead of a weapon, she placed an old cassette tape on the table.
"I've kept this for twenty years."
Michael looked confused.
"A cassette?"
Emily nodded.
"My father recorded it the night before he disappeared."
Bennett carefully picked it up using gloves.
"There isn't even a label."
"There never was."
"What does it contain?"
Emily swallowed.
"A confession."
Michael's heartbeat quickened.
"Whose confession?"
"My father's."
"And what did he confess to?"
Emily stared directly at Michael.
"He admitted that everything our families believed about the Turner family was built on a lie."
The room fell completely silent.
Before anyone could ask another question, a detective rushed through the door.
"The forensic lab just called."
Bennett turned.
"What happened?"
"The tape..."
"Yes?"
"...it's blank."
Emily's face turned pale.
"No."
"The magnetic strip has been erased."
Emily shook her head violently.
"That's impossible."
Then she remembered something.
Three nights earlier...
Someone had entered her hospital room before she disappeared.
Someone had held the cassette for several seconds.
Long enough.
Long enough to destroy its contents.
Whoever had been watching her...
May you like
Had known exactly what was on that tape.
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