Chapter 335: Remembering
When she and Derek had made plans to head into the police station first thing in the morning. Emily had not anticipated things going the way that they had at all. After all, people who had broken the law were taken to the police station. But instead, she and Derek had gone to the police station and broken the law. She was pretty sure that they were not supposed to have the pictures that Detective Pierce had given them. But Emily was glad that they did.
From the moment that they had stepped out of the police station and into the car, Emily had wanted to rip the envelope open and spill the contents. An urge that did not go away even in the car, or at her apartment. But she had managed to hold on until they had finally made it to the penthouse. And now they were back at the penthouse.
They had moved furniture around in Derek’s study. Creating a mini war room. Even having a giant board, leaned against the wall so that they could use it to connect events more easily.
All that was left was to open the envelope, and take out the contents. The very thing that Emily had been wanting to do all along. But now that the time had come for her to do so. She was stalling, no longer feeling so sure of herself.
"It’s now or never," Derek said, and Emily nodded. Handing the envelope over to him and watching as he took a deep breath, and then opened it.
The first picture on top of the file felt like a punch to the gut. It was a photo of something that had clearly used to be an expensive car. Except the front was gone. The engine pushed into the driver, and the front passenger side seats. It was clear even from just looking at the photo that the people who had been sitting up front had not made it out.
Emily had seen car wrecks before, but she had never been as affected as she was in that moment. Things really were different when it was a family member who was involved.
There were more photos to look at, more evidence to see. But the two of them could not seem to look past the first one. Running her fingers gently over it, Emily looked up at Derek.
"Do you think that they suffered?" She asked.