The truth was still hidden somewhere between those facts.
“Grandma,” Grace said softly.
I looked at her.
“What if Mom and Dad knew they were in danger?”
I couldn’t answer.
Because there was one more document in the folder.
A police report.
I read it carefully.
Then I noticed something that had never been mentioned to me.
The night of the accident, another vehicle had reportedly been seen near the scene.
A witness had described it as a dark SUV.
The report stated that investigators had been unable to identify the vehicle.
I felt a chill.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me this?”
Grace stared at the page.
“I don’t know.”
For ten years, I had believed the accident was simple.
A rainy night.
A dangerous road.
A terrible loss.
Now I was realizing that there had been questions from the beginning.
Questions no one had answered.
That afternoon, I called the police department.
I expected the old case to be forgotten.
Instead, I was told something I never expected.
The investigation file was still available.
And there was a detective who had worked on the original case.
His name was Thomas Reed.
When I mentioned Daniel’s name, the detective became quiet.
Then he said something that made my blood run cold.
“Mrs. Miller, I’ve been waiting for someone to find that box.”
I gripped the phone.
“What did you say?”
He sighed.
“Your son came to see me two days before the accident.”
I couldn’t speak.
“Why?”
“He believed someone was stealing from his company. He gave me information, but I couldn’t verify it at the time. Then the accident happened.”
My knees weakened.
“Did you think the accident was suspicious?”
There was a long silence.
“At the time, I couldn’t prove it.”
“Can you now?”
“I don’t know.”
Then he added:
“But if you have documents from your son, I need to see them.”
I looked at Grace.
She was watching me with tears in her eyes.
For the first time in ten years, I felt something I had almost forgotten.
Hope.
Not the comforting kind.
The frightening kind.
The kind that forces you to question everything.
The next morning, I met Detective Reed and gave him the documents.
He examined the financial records carefully.
Then he looked at the photograph.
His expression changed.
“Where did you get this?”
I explained.
