That was enough for one afternoon.
But the story was not finished.
Late that night, Amelia sat in her office surrounded by Rachel’s boxes. She had experts reviewing the tapes, accountants examining the ledgers, and investigators searching for Reed, Danton, and Avery.
Her desk was covered in names and numbers.
At the center was Rachel’s letter.
Somewhere connected to “the first lie.”
Amelia wrote the phrase on a legal pad.
The first lie.
What did it mean?
Gavin’s first police interview?
Mrs. Avery’s first statement?
Danton’s first alibi?
The first piece of evidence logged?
She flipped through the earliest case documents again, searching for anything that looked like a beginning. The first 911 call had come from Mrs. Avery at 9:47 p.m. The first officer arrived at 9:53. The first official statement named Gavin at 10:08.
Then Amelia stopped.
The first lie was not in the police reports.
