Chapter Ten The Original Autopsy
No one slept that night.
Every light in the Harper house remained on.
Richard checked every lock twice before sitting beside Clara in the living room.
Julian stared silently through the window.
For the first time in seven years, he wasn't thinking about revenge.
He was thinking about Audrey.
About every cruel word he had spoken.
About the wedding he had turned into a prison.
Audrey sat alone in the guest room, unable to erase his voice from her memory.
"I married you so you would lose everything."
Even if he had been deceived...
The pain he caused had been real.
At sunrise, Detective Brooks arrived carrying a sealed evidence bag.
"I didn't trust the station anymore," he said.
"I brought the original file with me."
Everyone gathered around the dining table.
Brooks carefully unfolded the autopsy report.
"It was altered before it was entered into evidence."
Richard frowned.
"How?"
"The official report says Sienna drowned."
He slid another page across the table.
"The original says something different."
Clara picked it up.
Her hands trembled.
Cause of death: blunt-force trauma to the back of the head.
The room fell silent.
Julian whispered,
"She was already dead..."
"...before she entered the river."
Brooks nodded.
May you like
"Which means the river didn't kill her."
"Someone did."
