Page 150 of The Advocate’s Ultimatum

The report continued: Image quality insufficient for identification.

JP moved on to the Recovered Notes Fragment. It contained the following deleted notes recovered from the device:

not sisters maybe

older guy watches everything

blonde acts scared

something wrong there

JP took a deep breath. Todd had discovered enough to become dangerous.

Sabre folded her arms. “He thought she was trapped.”

“It looks like it.”

JP flipped to the autopsy summary and read slower.

“What is it?”

Without answering, JP handed her the Medical Examiner Preliminary Findings report.

Sabre read aloud. “Victim sustained multiple stab wounds, several superficial penetrating injuries, and severe blunt-force trauma to posterior skull. Preliminary finding: Fatal injury most consistent with blunt-force cranial trauma occurring near or after stabbing event.”

Sabre sucked in a breath. “Bay didn’t say anything about a blow to the head.”

“Maybe he fell when she stabbed him.”

“That’s not what she said, but she still hasn’t told the whole story.”

JP continued to read. “Knife injuries alone would not have been immediately fatal.” JP stared at the notation. “He must’ve fallen when she stabbed him.”

“Which would still mean she’s the one who killed him.”

“Unless she had some help.”

“What are you thinking?” Sabre asked.

“Maybe the other girl didn’t leave, or she came back.”

“And Bay is covering for her.”

“Or it’s possible Bay doesn’t know she returned.”

Silence settled over the office. JP flipped back to witness timeline. “Bay was seen leaving the area, looking upset. No witness actually saw Maddox die. They heard an argument, noise, saw some movement. Then later the body was found.”

JP returned to the evidence inventory. “No murder weapon matching blunt-force injury was recovered. And there are no scuffs, bloodstains, or indications that he hit his head on anything in the room.”

“So, you think he was alive after Bay left?”

“I think it’s a good possibility,” JP said. “Someone else could’ve come in afterward. Someone who felt that Todd Maddox had become a threat.”

“That could mean the other girl or the guardian.”

JP looked again at Maddox’s browser searches—including, how to tell if someone is being controlled—then at the blurry blonde photo, then at the missing-child article screenshot. “I think Maddox was on to more than he knew. He had found enough to start pulling threads, enough for Bay to panic, and enough for somebody else to finish the job.”

Sabre glanced at the search history printout. “So, he may not have known who she was, but he was getting close enough to scare the right people.”