Chapter 13 - The Backpack
Ortiz treated the note like a lit match.
Olivia's ankle monitor showed she had never come within five miles of Rachel's building.
"Then someone brought it for her," Daniel said.
"Exactly."
Kyle was in custody for violating an unrelated probation condition. That left friends, gambling contacts, or someone Daniel didn't know.
Ethan recognized the backpack immediately.
"Mom took it out of my closet after Grandma fell."
"Did you see her take it?" Ortiz asked.
"No. It was just gone."
One message was saved.
AUDIO FILE DELETED.
Daniel stared at the screen. "What audio file?"
Ethan looked down.
"Buddy?"
"I recorded them."
"Recorded who?"
"Mom and Grandma. Before the stairs."
Ethan explained that he had been making a video on an old tablet, pretending to host a dinosaur show. He heard the argument and turned on the voice recorder because he thought Grandma might say a bad word.
"Where's the tablet?"
"It was in my backpack."
"So the phone message means someone deleted the recording?"
Ortiz shook her head. "Maybe they think they did."
A digital forensics specialist recovered the tablet's cloud backup that night.
The audio was eleven minutes long.
The first eight minutes matched Margaret's phone recording.
The last three did not.
Olivia's voice: "Give me the folder."
Margaret: "No. Daniel is reading it tonight."
Olivia: "If he sees those statements, my life is over."
Margaret: "You should have thought of that before you stole from him."
Then footsteps.
Olivia again, closer: "You don't get to take my husband, my son, and my life."
Margaret: "Olivia, step away from me."
A gasp.
A scrape.
Margaret shouting, "Don't you dare--"
Then the crash.
Daniel covered his mouth.
But the recording kept going.
Ten seconds later, Olivia spoke again, very softly.
May you like
"Please don't get up."
Then she ran to Margaret's room.
