Chapter 4 - A Story Too Perfect
The first trooper approached with one hand resting near his belt.
"Everyone stay where you are," he ordered. "Is anyone injured?"
Derek immediately clutched his neck.
"My back hurts," he groaned dramatically. "He slammed into us hard."
Kyle copied him a second later, rubbing his shoulder as if he had just remembered to act injured.
"My neck too. We might need medical attention."
Walter glanced at them but said nothing.
The trooper turned to him.
"Sir, are you hurt?"
"I am shaken, but I believe I am all right," Walter replied.
His voice remained steady, almost unusually so.
The second trooper began walking around the vehicles, photographing the damage. He crouched behind the SUV, looked closely at the bumper, then frowned.
Derek noticed.
"Pretty bad, right?" he called out. "He came flying up behind us."
The trooper did not answer.
He continued inspecting.
Walter watched the trooper's eyes move from the damaged bumper to the road surface. There were no long skid marks from the SUV before the impact, only Walter's braking trail behind it.
That mattered.
The first trooper pulled out a notepad.
"Tell me what happened."
Derek spoke first, too quickly.
"We were driving normally. This old guy was distracted or something. He crashed straight into us. Then he tried to act innocent."
Kyle nodded aggressively.
"Exactly. He was probably confused. Look at his age."
A few witnesses murmured in disbelief.
The delivery driver raised his hand.
"Officer, that's not what happened."
Derek spun around.
"Nobody asked you."
The trooper looked at the driver.
"I am asking now."
The young man swallowed hard.
"The SUV was tailgating him first. Then it cut in front of him and braked suddenly. I saw it."
Another witness stepped forward.
"I saw the same thing."
Then another.
"And I recorded part of it."
Derek's face changed by inches. His confidence did not disappear completely, but cracks began to show.
Kyle tried to laugh.
"People always think they saw something. Rain, traffic, confusion—"
Walter interrupted softly.
"There is also the matter of the modified rear brake trigger."
Everyone turned toward him.
Derek's eyes narrowed.
"What did you just say?"
Walter pointed toward the SUV's damaged bumper.
"There appears to be an external wire connected near your brake-light assembly. It may be unrelated, of course. But in staged collisions, devices are sometimes used to make brake behavior appear normal while the actual vehicle movement tells a different story."
The troopers exchanged a look.
Kyle went pale.
Derek forced a smirk.
"Who are you supposed to be, some kind of mechanic?"
Walter slipped the notebook back into his jacket.
May you like
"No," he said.
"Not exactly."
