Chapter 5 - Evan's Version
Maria ordered Evan to show his hands.
He did.
No weapon.
No box cutter.
Just a seventeen-year-old boy shaking under a wet hoodie.
I expected anger.
Instead, he looked exhausted.
"Why did you cut the brakes?"
He flinched.
"I didn't."
I stared.
"I saw the box cutter."
"I cut my seat belt."
"Before the crash."
"No."
He looked at Maria.
"After the brakes failed."
"Why?"
"I panicked."
"Then why did you say you knew?"
Evan's face collapsed.
"Because Aunt Elaine told me something was going to happen."
Silence.
"What?"
"She said you were planning to fake an accident."
"She said Dad left proof."
"She told me if the brakes acted weird, I should get out."
My skin went cold.
Evan admitted he had known the brakes might fail.
But he claimed Elaine told him I planned it.
She instructed him to carry a box cutter.
She told him a note would explain everything.
"And the picture?"
I asked.
He looked sick.
"She told me to prove what you did."
"You thought I tried to kill myself?"
"I thought you were staging it."
"Then why ask if I was dead?"
His eyes filled.
"I didn't."
Caleb spoke.
"You did."
Evan stared at him.
"No."
Caleb had recorded the roadside conversation.
He played it.
Evan's voice.
Can you check if she's really dead?
Evan went pale.
"That's me."
"Yes."
"But I don't remember saying it."
Maria's attention sharpened.
"What do you mean?"
Evan pressed both hands against his temples.
"I was dizzy."
"Before the crash?"
"Since breakfast."
I remembered Elaine bringing coffee and pastries that morning.
Evan drank a large energy drink she handed him.
I drank my own coffee.
Maria ordered a toxicology screen.
Evan objected.
Then agreed.
The result came back hours later.
A sedative was still detectable.
Small dose.
Enough to impair judgment.
Not enough to knock him out.
Elaine had not merely manipulated Evan emotionally.
She had drugged him.
Then Evan gave us the final piece.
"The brake job wasn't mine."
"Whose was it?"
He stared at the floor.
"I saw Uncle Mark under the car last night."
I frowned.
Daniel had no brother named Mark.
Evan looked up.
"Not Dad's brother."
"Aunt Elaine's boyfriend."
Caleb went completely still.
He knew the name.
Mark Delaney.
Former mechanic.
May you like
And the last person known to have seen Daniel alive.
