CHAPTER SIX The Phone
CHAPTER SIX
The Phone
Detective Morrison arrived less than thirty minutes later.
The flip phone lay on Bridget's bedside table.
"It still works," Emma said.
"Barely."
The detective slipped on gloves before opening it.
The battery was almost dead.
Most of the messages had been deleted.
Almost.
A forensic technician connected the device to a recovery system.
One by one...
Deleted conversations began returning.
Photos.
Call logs.
Voice notes.
Then...
A message thread labeled Marcus.
Everyone in the room leaned closer.
The first messages looked harmless.
Tyler: Need you at my parents' place Friday.
Marcus: Sure.
Another.
Tyler: Bring your tools.
Another.
Marcus: For what?
Then came the message that froze the room.
Tyler:
"The back deck railing is already weak."
Five minutes later—
"Make sure it gives way if someone leans on it."
Nobody spoke.
The technician opened the next message.
Marcus replied only two words.
"Consider it done."
Emma covered her mouth.
Bridget felt the air leave her lungs.
It hadn't been a fight that went too far.
It hadn't been a moment of anger.
Tyler had planned it.
Morrison immediately called the district attorney.
"I need the charges amended."
He listened for a moment.
"No."
His eyes never left the phone.
"This isn't aggravated assault anymore."
"It's attempted murder."
The investigation team returned to the Walker house that afternoon.
This time they weren't looking for fingerprints.
They dismantled the broken railing piece by piece.
Every screw.
Every bolt.
Every wooden post.
An engineer examined the fracture points.
After less than an hour, he removed one rusted screw.
"No."
He frowned.
"This didn't fail naturally."
He held it toward Morrison.
Fresh tool marks covered the metal.
Someone had loosened every supporting bolt before the party.
The railing had been designed to collapse.
Across town...
Tyler was finishing lunch inside the county jail when his attorney arrived.
"We have a problem."
Tyler smirked.
"The footage?"
"Worse."
"What?"
The lawyer slid several printed photographs across the table.
The recovered text messages.
Tyler's smile disappeared.
"Where did you get these?"
"I'm asking the questions."
The lawyer lowered his voice.
"Did you tell Marcus to weaken that railing?"
Tyler didn't answer.
His silence lasted too long.
The attorney slowly leaned back in his chair.
"My God..."
"It wasn't supposed to happen like that."
Tyler whispered the words almost to himself.
The lawyer stared at him.
"What did you just say?"
Tyler looked up.
For the first time since his arrest...
He actually looked afraid.
That evening, Detective Morrison visited Bridget again.
"The district attorney approved the new charges."
Bridget nodded slowly.
"So it's over?"
Morrison looked at her for several seconds.
"No."
He placed another folder on her bed.
"It's just getting started."
Bridget opened it.
On the top page was a financial report.
One transaction had been circled in red.
$2,000,000
Transferred...
Three weeks before Rose died.
From a company account...
Into an offshore bank.
Bridget stared at the document.
"I've never seen this before."
Morrison nodded.
"I believe you."
He closed the folder.
"Which is exactly why I think someone else has been stealing from your grandmother for years."
Bridget's heartbeat quickened.
She had thought this case was about attempted murder.
She was wrong.
May you like
The inheritance itself...
Was hiding a much darker secret.
