A Message Hidden in a Toy
Chapter 09 - A Message Hidden in a Toy
Victor remained in custody, but the case was not finished. Police needed to prove who caused the crash and who altered Laura’s medication. The forged order and financial records established fraud, yet Victor’s attorney continued to separate each event, calling them unrelated mistakes.
Ethan remembered something else about the astronaut.
When Laura gave it to him, she had said, “The mission has two parts.” They had found the memory card, but no second item.
Daniel brought the toy to the hospital. Ethan examined every seam until he noticed one boot was heavier than the other. Inside was a tiny brass key with a number stamped on it.
The number belonged to a storage locker at the downtown train station.
Detective Brooks opened the locker under warrant. Inside sat Laura’s red work bag, a spare phone, and a small dashboard camera. The camera had been removed from her car before the crash. Its final video showed Victor in the parking lot, leaning through Laura’s window.
The audio was clear.
“You can report me,” Victor said, “but you will not reach Monday.”
The video then captured him walking toward the front of Laura’s car and bending near the wheel. A second camera angle from a nearby store showed him leaving with a tool in his hand.
The spare phone contained messages between Victor and Price. They discussed preparing a family authorization, timing Daniel’s removal from the floor, and disabling the hallway camera. One message from Victor read: Her son must not be in the room when it happens.
Price had replied: I can arrange a security complaint.
Daniel read the message three times. The insurance problem that pulled him downstairs had never existed. It had been created to separate him from Laura and Ethan.
For the first time since the crash, Ethan saw his father’s anger give way to fear. Victor had planned every detail, including where a child would be standing.
Laura asked to see the evidence. Daniel hesitated, worried it would slow her recovery. She insisted.
After watching the video, Laura closed her eyes. “My brother is gone,” she said weakly.
Daniel thought she meant Victor had escaped.
Laura shook her head. “The brother I loved. He was gone long before the police took him.”
Ethan climbed carefully beside her and rested his head against her shoulder.
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The next morning, prosecutors added attempted murder, conspiracy, fraud, and evidence tampering to Victor’s charges.
But before the preliminary hearing, Leonard Price disappeared from protective custody.
