PART 4: THE DETECTIVE WE WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO TRUST
\nCHLOE SHOULD HAVE GONE TO SCHOOL TODAY.
\nI stared at the six words until they blurred.
\nThe masked intruder knew I had faked being sick.
\nThey knew I had been home at 10:35.
\nThey knew I had recorded Derek.
\nOnly a few people knew all three things.
\nMom.
\nMaya.
\nDerek.
\nThe police.
\nAnd whoever had been speaking to Derek on the phone.
\n\u201cGet the girls out of this room,\u201d Detective Alvarez ordered.
\nOfficer Martinez guided us into the hallway while two other officers searched the apartment.
\nThe fire escape rattled outside.
\nSomeone shouted from the alley, but a minute later, an officer returned alone.
\n\u201cThey\u2019re gone,\u201d he said. \u201cThe intruder crossed the roof and climbed down the building next door.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat about the red stain?\u201d Mom asked.
\n\u201cProbably blood from the broken window. Whoever came through here cut themselves.\u201d
\nDetective Alvarez pulled on gloves and lifted the file from the floor.
\n\u201cDid your father use red folders?\u201d
\n\u201cNo,\u201d Mom said. \u201cThat one used to be blue.\u201d
\nThe file was so deeply stained that almost none of its original color remained.
\nAlvarez opened it carefully.
\nSeveral pages had been torn out, but most remained.
\nThe first page contained a photograph of Derek taken nearly seventeen years earlier.
\nHe looked younger, but the smile was the same.<\/p>\n
Beneath the photograph was a different name:
\nAARON MICHAEL WALSH.
\nMom sat on the edge of her bed.
\n\u201cI married a man who didn\u2019t exist.\u201d
\nMaya crouched beside her.
\n\u201cThis isn\u2019t your fault.\u201d
\n\u201cI brought him into our home.\u201d
\n\u201cHe fooled all of us.\u201d
\nI looked toward the tiny camera hidden inside the smoke detector.
\n\u201cHe didn\u2019t just fool us. He studied us.\u201d
\nDetective Alvarez began reading the investigator\u2019s report.
\nAaron Walsh had married Evelyn\u2019s mother, Leah, when Evelyn was seven.
\nLeah owned a row house in West Philadelphia.
\nWithin a year, Aaron began pressuring her to put his name on the deed.
\nWhen she refused, prescription pills were found inside her car.
\nLeah claimed Aaron had planted them.
\nNo one believed her.
\nShe lost her nursing job.
\nShe lost custody of Evelyn.
\nThree months later, she disappeared.
\nAaron told police that she had run away to avoid drug charges.
\nNo body was ever found.
\nAfter Leah vanished, Aaron sold almost everything inside her house.
\nThen he disappeared, too.
\nEight years later, he became Derek Cole.
\nMom covered her face.
\n\u201cHe was doing the same thing to us.\u201d
\n\u201cThe apartment,\u201d Maya whispered.
\n\u201cThe deed,\u201d I added.
\n\u201cThe pills,\u201d Mom said.
\nIt was never an argument about Derek wanting to feel like \u201cthe man of the house.\u201d
\nIt was a plan he had used before.
\nFirst, he damaged a woman\u2019s reputation.<\/p>\n
Then he isolated her.
\nThen he took her property.
\n\u201cWhat happened to Leah\u2019s house?\u201d Officer Martinez asked.
\nDetective Alvarez turned another page.
\n\u201cIt was transferred to Aaron after a document appeared claiming Leah had signed it before disappearing.\u201d
\n\u201cA forged document,\u201d Mom said.
\n\u201cMost likely.\u201d
\nThe final section of the report described a secret meeting between my grandfather and Leah Walsh.
\nThe meeting had happened two weeks before Mom married Derek.
\nLeah had contacted Grandpa after seeing an engagement photograph online.
\nShe warned him that Derek was Aaron.
\nShe also claimed she had proof connecting him to a larger prescription theft operation.
\n\u201cLeah was alive,\u201d Maya said. \u201cAt least back then.\u201d
\n\u201cWhy didn\u2019t she go directly to Mom?\u201d I asked.
\nMom looked toward me.
\n\u201cShe tried. Evelyn said she disappeared the night before our meeting.\u201d
\nI read the next sentence aloud.
\n\u201cLeah told Thomas Bennett she feared two men more than Aaron himself.\u201d
\nThe names beneath it had been ripped away.
\nOnly the bottom of one typed letter remained.
\nAn S.
\nThe second missing name ended with an Z.
\nDetective Alvarez quickly closed the file.
\n\u201cWe should finish this at the station.\u201d
\n\u201cWhy?\u201d I asked.
\n\u201cBecause this apartment is no longer secure.\u201d
\n\u201cCan\u2019t you read the rest here?\u201d
\n\u201cThe file is evidence, Chloe.\u201d
\nHe placed it inside a clear evidence bag.
\nAs he lifted it, a small silver key fell from between the pages.
\nIt landed beneath the bed.
\nI was the only person who saw it.
\nI bent down and covered it with my shoe.
\nSomething about the detective\u2019s sudden hurry bothered me.
\nMaybe it was the way he had closed the file as soon as we saw the torn names.
\nMaybe it was the fact that one missing name ended in Z.
\nAlvarez ended with Z.
\nI told myself it could be a coincidence.
\nThen I remembered who had designed the pharmacy operation.
\nDetective Alvarez.<\/p>\n
He knew about the marked bottle.
\nHe knew where Mom would place it.
\nHe knew when the cameras would be watched.
\nIf someone had warned Derek and Mrs. Voss about the trap, Alvarez had all the information they needed.
\n\u201cDid you tell anyone at the pharmacy what time Mom would move the bottle?\u201d I asked.
\nAlvarez looked at me.
\n\u201cNo.\u201d
\n\u201cDid anyone else know?\u201d
\n\u201cSeveral members of the investigation.\u201d
\n\u201cWho?\u201d
\n\u201cThat information is confidential.\u201d
\n\u201cWas Mrs. Voss one of them?\u201d
\nHis expression hardened.
\n\u201cOf course not.\u201d
\n\u201cThen how did she know when to steal it?\u201d
\n\u201cShe may have been watching your mother.\u201d
\nThe answer came too quickly.
\nOfficer Martinez glanced at him.
\nIt was only a tiny movement, but I saw it.
\nHe was wondering the same thing.
\nAlvarez handed the evidence bag to another officer.
\n\u201cI want this transported directly to my office.\u201d
\n\u201cShouldn\u2019t it go to evidence intake?\u201d Martinez asked.
\n\u201cMy office first.\u201d
\n\u201cWhy?\u201d
\n\u201cBecause I\u2019m leading the investigation.\u201d
\nOfficer Martinez didn\u2019t argue, but he quietly wrote something in his notebook.
\nMom and Maya followed the officers toward the living room.
\nI pretended to tie my shoe.
\nWhen no one was looking, I picked up the silver key and slipped it into my sock.
\nWe were taken to a hotel near the police station because our apartment was no longer safe.
\nTwo officers remained in the lobby.
\nMom locked the room door and pushed a chair beneath the handle.
\nFor a while, none of us spoke.
\nThen I removed the silver key from my sock.
\nMaya\u2019s eyes widened.
\n\u201cWhere did you get that?\u201d
\n\u201cIt fell out of Grandpa\u2019s file.\u201d
\n\u201cYou stole evidence?\u201d
\n\u201cI rescued it from someone who might be destroying evidence.\u201d
\n\u201cChloe,\u201d Mom whispered, \u201cwhy would you say that?\u201d
\nI told them about the missing name ending with Z.
\nThen I told them how Alvarez had rushed to close the file.
\nMom shook her head.
\n\u201cNo. Detective Alvarez has been helping me for six weeks.\u201d
\n\u201cHe also knew about the marked bottle,\u201d I said.
\n\u201cLots of officers knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid lots of officers know exactly when you were moving it?\u201d
\nMom stopped.
\n\u201cNo.\u201d
\n\u201cWho chose the time?\u201d
\n\u201cAlvarez.\u201d
\n\u201cWho told you which drawer to use?\u201d
\n\u201cAlvarez.\u201d
\n\u201cWho asked the pharmacy to turn off the backup alarm during the test?\u201d
\nMom\u2019s face went pale.
\n\u201cHe did.\u201d
\nMaya stood and began pacing.
\n\u201cIf Alvarez is working with Derek, why did he let the police arrest him?\u201d
\n\u201cMaybe Derek became a problem,\u201d I said. \u201cOr maybe they planned to get him out later.\u201d
\nMom picked up the hotel phone.
\n\u201cWe need to call Officer Martinez.\u201d
\nBefore she could dial, her cell phone rang.
\nThe number was unknown.
\nWe all froze.
\nMom answered on speaker.
\n\u201cHello?\u201d
\nIt was Evelyn.
\n\u201cSarah, I\u2019m in Philadelphia.\u201d
\n\u201cWhere?\u201d
\n\u201cAcross the street from the Central Police Station.\u201d
\n\u201cWhy did you come here?\u201d
\n\u201cBecause the key my mother sent opens a safe-deposit box. I called the bank. It was rented jointly by Leah Walsh and Thomas Bennett.\u201d
\n\u201cMy father?\u201d
\n\u201cYes. The bank will only let me open it because my name is listed as the emergency beneficiary.\u201d
\nI looked at the silver key in my hand.
\n\u201cWhat does your key look like?\u201d I asked.
\n\u201cSmall and silver. The number 317 is stamped on it.\u201d
\nI turned ours over.
\n317.
\n\u201cWe have the same key.\u201d
\nEvelyn went silent.
\n\u201cHow?\u201d
\n\u201cIt was hidden in Grandpa\u2019s file.\u201d
\n\u201cMy mother must have made a copy.\u201d
\n\u201cDo not go into the police station,\u201d Mom warned. \u201cWe don\u2019t know who we can trust.\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2019m already inside.\u201d
\nThe line crackled.
\nThen a man spoke in the background.
\n\u201cEvelyn, put down the phone.\u201d
\nI recognized the voice.
\nDetective Alvarez.
\nThe call ended.
\nMom immediately dialed Officer Martinez.
\nHe answered in a whisper.
\n\u201cAre you safe?\u201d
\n\u201cFor now. Alvarez has Evelyn.\u201d
\nThere was a short silence.
\n\u201cI was afraid of that.\u201d
\n\u201cYou suspected him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI ran the stain from the file through a rapid field test. It\u2019s blood. We also recovered a partial print from the broken window.\u201d
\n\u201cMrs. Voss?\u201d
\n\u201cYes. But there\u2019s more. A security camera behind your building recorded her escape vehicle.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat vehicle?\u201d
\n\u201cAn unmarked police sedan assigned to Alvarez.\u201d
\nMom sat down heavily.
\n\u201cWhere are you?\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2019m outside the station. Alvarez sent me home, but I didn\u2019t leave. I saw him escort a young woman into the building ten minutes ago.\u201d
\n\u201cThat\u2019s Evelyn.\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2019m calling Internal Affairs.\u201d
\n\u201cShould we come to you?\u201d
\n\u201cNo. Stay hidden. I\u2019ll contact you when it\u2019s safe.\u201d
\nThe line went dead.
\nFive minutes later, someone knocked on the hotel door.
\nMom grabbed my arm.
\n\u201cWho is it?\u201d
\n\u201cPhiladelphia Police,\u201d a woman answered. \u201cWe were sent to move you to a safer location.\u201d
\nMom looked through the peephole.
\nTwo uniformed officers stood outside.
\n\u201cDid Martinez send you?\u201d she asked.
\n\u201cNo, ma\u2019am. Detective Alvarez did.\u201d
\nWe didn\u2019t open the door.
\nMom backed away and called Martinez again.
\nNo answer.
\nThe officers knocked harder.
\n\u201cMrs. Bennett, we need to leave immediately.\u201d
\nMaya pulled open the curtains.
\nThe room was on the third floor.
\nThere was nowhere to go.
\n\u201cAsk for their badge numbers,\u201d I whispered.
\nMom did.
\nThe officers gave them.
\nMaya searched the numbers on her phone.
\nBoth belonged to real officers.
\nBut one was listed as retired.
\nThe other had died two years earlier.
\n\u201cThey\u2019re fake,\u201d Maya mouthed.
\nThe knocking stopped.
\nFor several seconds, the hallway was silent.
\nThen the lights inside our room went out.
\nMom pulled us into the bathroom and locked the door.
\nWe heard the hotel room door open.
\nSomeone had a master key.
\nHeavy footsteps entered.
\nI held my breath.
\nA phone vibrated outside.
\nThen a man whispered, \u201cThey\u2019re not here.\u201d
\nAnother voice replied, \u201cCheck the bathroom.\u201d
\nThe doorknob turned.
\nBefore they could force it open, the hotel fire alarm screamed.
\nRed emergency lights flashed.
\nPeople began shouting in the hallway.
\nThe strangers ran.
\nOfficer Martinez had triggered the building alarm from the front desk.
\nHe reached our room with four real officers less than a minute later.
\n\u201cWe need to move now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Instead of taking us to the main police station, Martinez drove us to an Internal Affairs office across the city.
\nEvelyn wasn\u2019t answering her phone.
\nNeither was Detective Alvarez.
\nAt 11:42 p.m., the bank\u2019s emergency security department called Mom.
\nSomeone had attempted to open safe-deposit box 317 using a copied court order.
\nThe bank manager had refused.
\nAlvarez was trying to reach whatever Leah and Grandpa had hidden.
\nThe next morning, Internal Affairs escorted us and Evelyn\u2019s attorney to the bank.
\nEvelyn was still missing, but her attorney had documents proving she was the legal beneficiary.
\nThe manager led us underground to a private room.
\nSafe-deposit box 317 was long and narrow.
\nThe silver key opened it.
\nInside were the missing savings bonds from Grandpa\u2019s safe.
\nDerek hadn\u2019t stolen them.
\nGrandpa had moved them years earlier to protect us.
\nThere was also a handwritten letter, three photographs, and a black USB drive.
\nThe first photograph showed Derek with Mrs. Voss.
\nThe second showed him with a younger Detective Alvarez.
\nThe third showed all three of them standing outside Leah\u2019s house one week before she disappeared.
\nMom inserted the USB drive into the bank\u2019s computer.
\nA video appeared.
\nA thin woman with dark hair sat inside a motel room.
\nEvelyn\u2019s mother.
\nLeah Walsh.
\nThe recording date was seven years earlier.
\n\u201cIf you are watching this,\u201d Leah began, \u201cI may already be dead.\u201d
\nMom gripped my hand.
\nLeah explained that Derek had been stealing prescription medication for years.
\nMrs. Voss created fake school and medical records to discredit his victims.<\/p>\n
A young patrol officer named Luis Alvarez made police reports disappear.
\nIn exchange, Derek gave him money and medication to sell.
\nLeah had collected proof.
\nNames.
\nBank records.
\nRecordings.
\nEverything was stored on the USB drive.
\nThen Leah leaned closer to the camera.
\n\u201cSarah, if Thomas failed to reach you, listen carefully. Aaron will try to destroy your daughters before he destroys you. But Aaron is not the person you should fear most.\u201d
\nFootsteps sounded outside the bank\u2019s private room.
\nOfficer Martinez moved toward the door.
\nLeah continued speaking on the screen.
\n\u201cLuis Alvarez knows every place I hid. He knows every officer I trusted. If he is standing anywhere near you when you see this video, do not speak.\u201d
\nThe door handle turned.
\n\u201cDo not let him see the drive.\u201d
\nA key entered the lock from the outside.
\n\u201cTake your daughters and run.\u201d
\nThe door opened.
\nDetective Alvarez stood there.
\nHe held Evelyn tightly against his chest.
\nA gun was pressed beneath her chin.
\nAlvarez stepped into the room and locked the door behind him.
\nThen he smiled at us.
\n\u201cNo one,\u201d he said softly, \u201cis running anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
PART 4: THE DETECTIVE WE WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO TRUST CHLOE SHOULD HAVE GONE TO SCHOOL TODAY. I stared at the six words until they blurred. The masked intruder knew … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dmnews168.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dmnews168.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dmnews168.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmnews168.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmnews168.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6533"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dmnews168.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6537,"href":"https:\/\/dmnews168.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6533\/revisions\/6537"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmnews168.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dmnews168.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmnews168.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dmnews168.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}