Chapter 9 - THE WOMAN WHO PHOTOGRAPHED SLOAN
The photograph’s metadata led detectives to a retired court clerk named Helen Ward.
Helen had worked for Judge Keene for twelve years.
She resigned shortly after Anna died.
When Collins contacted her, Helen agreed to meet at a public library.
She arrived carrying a sealed evidence box.
Helen had suspected Sloan was manipulating guardianship cases.
She copied documents and photographed meetings.
She feared reporting him because Keene controlled the court and Sloan had connections inside the police department.
Anna approached Helen two weeks before the crash.
They planned to deliver evidence to a federal prosecutor.
The blue folder contained bank statements, forged medical reports, and photographs of Sloan paying Judge Keene.
Helen took the photograph of Sloan beside Anna’s car.
She had followed him from the courthouse.
Sloan opened the hood and remained there for nearly ten minutes.
Helen did not see him cut the brake line.
She saw him wipe the engine compartment afterward.
“Why did you not go to the police?” I asked.
“I did.”
She looked ashamed.
“I gave the photograph to a detective.”
“Which detective?”
“Thomas Hart.”
The name felt familiar.
Thomas Hart was Evelyn’s late husband.
Anna’s father.
Lily’s grandfather.
He had been a police captain before his death five years earlier.
Helen claimed Thomas accepted the photograph and promised an investigation.
Two days later, he told her Sloan had an alibi.
He warned her that accusing a powerful attorney without proof could ruin her life.
Helen became frightened and remained silent.
“But Thomas died before Anna,” I said.
“No.”
Helen shook her head.
“I gave him the photograph six months before his death.”
That meant Sloan had been near Anna’s car long before the fatal crash.
Detective Collins enlarged the image.
The vehicle beside Sloan was not the car Anna drove into the river.
It was her previous car.
The brakes on that vehicle had also failed.
Anna survived the first incident because she was moving slowly through a parking garage.
She believed it was a mechanical defect.
Sloan had attempted to frighten her before he killed her.
Helen opened the evidence box.
Inside were copies of emergency custody orders, payment ledgers, and recordings.
One recording contained Thomas Hart’s voice.
“I covered the first incident.”
“Sloan promised my daughter would be protected.”
A second voice replied.
“Evelyn wants control of the trust.”
Thomas said nothing.
The second voice continued.
“If Anna refuses, we move forward without her.”
The voice belonged to Jonathan Sloan.
Thomas Hart had known his daughter was in danger.
He helped conceal the first attack.
Before we could listen further, the library fire alarm activated.
People began moving toward the exits.
Detective Collins looked through the window.
A black sport utility vehicle stopped beside the curb.
A masked man stepped out holding a gun.
May you like
Helen whispered one name.
“Sloan.”
