Chapter 2 - THE INTERROGATION ROOM
The primary interrogation room was freezing cold, lit only by a single, aggressively buzzing fluorescent bulb encased in wire mesh.
David sat hunched over the scratched metal table, staring blankly at his own handcuffed wrists.
He looked completely pathetic, a hollow shell of the arrogant man who used to dictate every rule in Maya's childhood home.
Detective Reed walked into the room slowly, letting the heavy steel door slam shut behind him with a terrifying finality.
He didn't sit down immediately; instead, he circled the table like a predator evaluating a wounded animal.
"You nailed the door shut, David," Reed stated flatly, tossing the charred iron padlock onto the center of the table.
The loud metallic clatter made David flinch violently, pulling his arms back as if the metal was still burning hot.
"We already searched your truck in the parking lot and found the hardware store receipt for this exact lock," Reed lied smoothly, employing a classic interrogation tactic.
David swallowed hard, a massive bead of nervous sweat rolling slowly down his pale temple.
"It was Sarah's idea," David finally whispered, his voice trembling so badly it was barely audible.
"She knew about the massive trust fund her first husband left for Maya when he passed away."
Reed pulled out a metal chair and sat down directly across from the broken man, pressing the record button on a small digital device.
"I need you to speak up and keep talking for the record," Reed commanded coldly.
"Maya was turning eighteen next week, which meant she was legally aging out of the conservatorship," David explained, his eyes darting frantically around the claustrophobic room.
"Once she blew out those birthday candles, she would get complete, unrestricted control of the entire software company."
"Sarah absolutely panicked, because she couldn't stand the thought of losing her luxurious lifestyle and begging a teenager for an allowance."
Meanwhile, in the adjacent interrogation room, Sarah was putting on a dramatically different and highly calculated performance.
She wept loudly and hysterically, smearing her expensive makeup as she claimed David had violently abused her for years.
"He threatened to kill me in my sleep if I didn't help him set up the insurance policy!" Sarah sobbed to Officer Jenkins, a veteran cop who looked entirely unconvinced.
"He is a gambling addict with massive debts, and he forced me to pack that duffel bag at gunpoint!"
Maya watched both of these sickening interrogations simultaneously through the two-way mirror in the central observation hallway.
She stood with her arms crossed tightly over her chest, feeling absolutely nothing for the woman who had carried her for nine months.
"They are both lying through their teeth to save their own skin," Maya said softly to the officer standing quietly beside her.
"They planned this brutal execution together for over a year, and neither of them was forced into anything."
Maya reached deep into the pocket of her soot-stained jeans and pulled out a small, partially scorched black object.
It was a heavily encrypted, military-grade USB drive that she had discovered in David's home office the night before the fire.
"I broke into his locked filing cabinet and copied this before the flames consumed the house," Maya explained, handing the drive to the astonished officer.
"It contains thousands of their deleted text messages, offshore bank account numbers, and their encrypted internet search histories."
The officer took the drive carefully, realizing this teenager had conducted a better investigation than most seasoned detectives.
"You need to give this to your cyber division immediately, because it proves exactly how they planned to burn me alive," Maya instructed.
"They searched for 'how hot does a house fire need to be to destroy dental records' three weeks ago."
The officer's blood ran completely cold as he looked from the burned drive to the unfazed teenager standing beside him.
Maya turned her gaze back to the glass, watching her mother continue to cry fake tears for the camera.
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"I am not just going to send them to a federal prison for the rest of their miserable lives," Maya whispered, her reflection staring back at her in the glass.
"I am going to make sure they watch me take everything they ever cared about before I lock the cell door myself."
