“Dark SUV.”
“County vehicle?”
“I couldn’t tell.”
“Did you look at footage?”
Lana nodded.
“And?”
“Ruth came back two days later.”
“I showed her.”
Michael gripped the table.
“What was there?”
Lana looked toward Erica.
The Sheriff was across the diner speaking with her attorney now.
Then Lana said:
“A county SUV.”
Michael closed his eyes.
Voss asked:
“Marked?”
“No.”
“Plate?”
“I couldn’t read all of it.”
“Did you save the video?”
Lana’s silence answered.
Michael opened his eyes.
“Lana.”
“I tried.”
“What happened?”
“The Sheriff came the next day.”
Michael stared.
“She said there had been vandalism reported nearby.”
“She asked for the recordings.”
“Did you give them?”
“I let her copy them.”
“Then?”
“Two days later the older recordings were gone.”
Voss’s face became still.
“Gone how?”
“I don’t know.”
“Deleted?”
“Yes.”
“By you?”
“No.”
“Who knew the password?”
Lana looked ashamed.
“Me.”
“And Erica.”
The table went silent.
Michael looked toward the Sheriff.
Erica was no longer watching him.
That was more frightening.
Voss asked:
“Did Ruth know the recordings disappeared?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
Lana’s eyes filled.
“She said, ‘Then I was right.’”
Michael felt cold.
“Right about what?”
“She wouldn’t tell me.”
Voss closed his notebook.
“When did Ruth die?”
Michael answered automatically.
“August twelfth.”
“Cause?”
“Car accident.”
Lana covered her mouth.
Voss looked at Michael.
“Where?”
“County Road Nine.”
“Single vehicle?”
“Yes.”
“Any witnesses?”
“No.”
“Investigated by?”
Michael already knew the answer.
He looked toward Erica.
“Sheriff’s department.”
Voss said nothing.
Michael’s hands tightened.
“No.”
Voss waited.
Michael shook his head.
“No.”
“Michael.”
“My sister was seventy-two.”
“She drove too fast on that curve.”
“She always did.”
“Road was wet.”
“That’s what they said.”
“Do not make this something before you have evidence.”
Voss nodded once.
“That is exactly right.”
Michael looked at him.
Voss continued.
“We do not know Ruth’s death was anything but an accident.”
“Then why are you here?”
Voss paused.
“Because this investigation did not begin with you.”
Michael stared.