THIRD PERSON POV (NARRATOR'S POV)

The waiting room, which had once been a bruised sort of sanctuary where worry was shared, now felt like an interrogation cell. Detective Miller — efficient, flat, and unyielding — had taken over a small, sterile consultation room down the hall.

Two uniformed officers stayed outside, a constant, blunt reminder of how serious this was. The air inside was charged with unsaid accusations: the family’s private grief had been pulled into the open and ...