**PART 3**
At 1:38 a.m., Daniel called again.
His voice had changed.
“Amelia, I need you to come to the station.”
“I can’t leave Chloe.”
“Bring Elias. A deputy can remain outside her room.”
“What happened?”
“Your mother wants to make a statement.”
“Then take it.”
“She refuses unless you’re present.”
“That’s not appropriate.”
“I told her that.”
“What does she want to say?”
“She claims she knows what happened to Mara Ellis.”
The station was nearly empty when we arrived.
Elias sat in the public waiting area while Daniel led me to an observation room.
My mother was on the other side of the glass.
She had changed out of her silk robe and into dark trousers and a gray sweater someone must have brought from the house. Without makeup, she looked older than she had in the kitchen.
A detective I did not know sat across from her.
“Detective Lena Ortiz,” Daniel said. “State cold-case unit. She’ll handle the interview.”
“Does she know I’m here?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you agree?”
“Because your mother says she won’t speak unless she can see you.”
“That makes me part of the pressure.”
“You’re not asking questions. You’re not in the room. And this is being recorded.”
I watched my mother fold and unfold a tissue.
Detective Ortiz began gently.
“Mrs. Vale, you told Sheriff Mercer you have information about Mara Ellis.”
My mother looked toward the mirror.
Toward me.
“Yes.”
“What information?”
She took a breath.
“Jonah knew her.”
“How?”
“He delivered medication to the pharmacy where she worked.”
“Did you know her?”
My mother hesitated.
“Yes.”
The word seemed to alter the air in the observation room.
Daniel glanced at me.
I kept my eyes on the glass.
“How did you know her?” Ortiz asked.
“She came to the house once.”
“When?”
“A week before she disappeared.”
“Why?”
“She wanted to speak to Jonah.”
“About what?”
My mother’s fingers tightened around the tissue.
“She believed he was stealing prescription shipments from the delivery company.”
Daniel went still beside me.
Mara had found something at the pharmacy.
Not a personal secret.
A crime.
“Did she have evidence?” Ortiz asked.
“She had copied delivery logs. She said the numbers did not match the pharmacy inventory.”
“What did Jonah say?”
“He told her she was mistaken.”
“Were you present?”
“For some of it.”
“What happened after she left?”
“Jonah was furious.”
“Did he threaten her?”
My mother’s gaze dropped.
“He said she was going to ruin everything.”
“Did you see Mara again?”
“No.”
“Did Jonah?”
“I don’t know.”
It was the first answer that sounded rehearsed.
Ortiz seemed to hear it too.
“Mrs. Vale, you said you know what happened to Mara Ellis.”
My mother looked toward the mirror again.
“I know Jonah came home late the night she disappeared.”
“What time?”
“After two in the morning.”
“What condition was he in?”
“Wet. Muddy.”
“Did he explain?”
“He said his truck had broken down near the reservoir.”
“Did you believe him?”
“No.”
“Why didn’t you tell investigators?”
My mother began to cry.
Quietly, almost without movement.
“Because he said Amelia would lose everything.”
My stomach clenched.
Ortiz leaned forward.
“What did he mean?”
My mother looked directly at the mirror.
“At the time, Amelia had just joined the major-crimes unit. Jonah said if I accused him without proof, he would tell everyone she had helped cover his delivery records.”
I turned to Daniel.
“I never touched his records.”
“I know.”
On the other side of the glass, my mother continued.
“He said he had used her computer once to print invoices. That her login might be attached.”
It was possible.
Years earlier, during a holiday visit, Jonah had asked to borrow my laptop because his printer was broken. I had allowed it without thinking.
“He made me believe Amelia could be investigated,” my mother said. “That she could lose her career.”
Ortiz’s voice remained calm.
“So you stayed silent.”
“Yes.”
“For six years?”
My mother pressed the tissue to her mouth.
“I kept waiting for him to confess. Or leave. Or die.”
The bluntness of the final word startled me.
“Did you ever receive proof of what happened to Mara?”
“No.”
“Did you send a photograph of the reservoir to Elias Ward?”
My mother froze.
Daniel turned sharply toward me.
I had not told him my suspicion.
Ortiz must have asked because Elias had turned over the copy while I was with Chloe.
My mother closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Why anonymously?”
“I was afraid.”
“Of Jonah?”
“Of everyone.”
“What did you mean by ‘Search where the water used to be’?”
My mother’s face lost what little color remained.
“I saw him there once.”
“Jonah?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Four months after Mara disappeared. During the drought.”
“What was he doing?”
“Standing near the old boat ramp.”
“Was he alone?”
My mother took too long to answer.
“No.”
“Who was with him?”
Her eyes lifted toward the mirror.
The room behind the glass became utterly silent.
Then my mother said my name.
“Amelia.”
I stopped breathing.
Ortiz glanced toward the mirror, then back at her.
“Amelia was with him?”
My mother shook her head.
“No. The other woman looked like Amelia.”
Daniel stared at me.
Ortiz’s voice softened.
“What do you mean?”
“She had the same height. The same dark hair. She wore a police coat.”
My mind moved rapidly through possibilities.
Another officer.
A uniform stolen or borrowed.
A trick of distance.
“Did you recognize her face?” Ortiz asked.
“No. She turned away.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“Because I thought it was Amelia.”
I pushed open the door before Daniel could stop me.
The interview ceased.
My mother looked up.
For the first time that night, her composure broke completely.
“You thought I helped Jonah?” I asked.
Ortiz stood.
“Deputy Chief Hart, you cannot be in here.”
I barely heard her.
My mother rose halfway from her chair.
“I didn’t know what to think.”
“You believed I was at the reservoir with him?”
“I saw your coat.”
“I lived four hours away.”
“You came home that weekend.”
I searched my memory.
Six years earlier. Four months after Mara disappeared. A drought. A weekend visit.
Then I remembered.
My dress uniform had gone missing from the hall closet.
My mother had claimed she sent it to the cleaners by mistake.
My service coat had been with it.
“Who had access to my things?” I asked.
My mother’s eyes shifted.
Jonah.
But before she could answer, Daniel’s phone rang.
He stepped into the hall, listened, and returned almost immediately.
His expression was grim.
“What is it?” I asked.
“They found the envelope.”
“Where?”
“In your mother’s car.”
My mother gripped the back of the chair.
“That’s impossible.”
Daniel looked at her.
“It was beneath the spare tire.”
“I’ve never seen it.”
“Inside were the copied delivery logs, the photograph Chloe described, and a handwritten note.”
My mother whispered, “What note?”
Daniel’s gaze moved to me.
“It wasn’t addressed to Jonah.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“Who was it addressed to?”
He hesitated.
Then he answered.
“To Amelia.”
My mother stared at me.
I stared back.
Daniel continued.
“And according to the date at the top, Mara wrote it the night she disappeared.”
