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The phone sat inside the evidence bag on the kitchen table.
I stared at it while Officer Medina examined the screen.
“What was the official cause of death?” she asked.
My mother answered immediately.
“Heart failure.”
Medina looked up.
“Was Clara known to have heart problems?”
“No.”
“How old was she?”
“Thirty-eight.”
The officer’s expression hardened.
“Who discovered her?”
Silence.
Nobody moved.
Finally, Derek spoke.
“I did.”
Medina turned toward him.
“What time?”
“Late at night.”
“Why were you in her bedroom?”
Derek’s face tightened.
“I wasn’t.”
Before I could say anything, Lily shouted from across the room:
“Yes, you were!”
Derek closed his eyes.
Officer Medina stared at him.
“We’ll talk separately.”
Then she went upstairs with another officer.
I wasn’t allowed to follow.
Those fifteen minutes felt longer than the three days I’d been away.
When Medina finally returned, something about her had changed.
“Mr. Bennett, I need you to stay downstairs.”
“What did you find?”
“We’re securing the bedroom.”
“Why?”
“I can’t discuss details yet.”
“That’s my wife’s room.”
“I understand.”
Then two detectives arrived.
The funeral was officially stopped.
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