The Untraceable Number
Chapter 09 - The Untraceable Number
Detective Delgado's forensic team finally traced the unregistered number two weeks into the reopened investigation, tracking a series of purchase records and cell tower data that led, unmistakably, back to Meredith herself.
"We found the prepaid phone," Delgado told Harrison, during a formal briefing at the precinct. "Purchased with cash, but the store's security footage from that day captured a clear image of the buyer. It's Meredith. There's no reasonable ambiguity about it."
Harrison felt something in his chest finally, completely settle into cold, devastating certainty, understanding now that the woman he'd married had spent months harassing his late wife before whatever final confrontation had led to her death.
"What was she saying to her," Harrison asked. "In those calls."
"We don't have recordings," Delgado said, "given the calls occurred before any formal investigation began. Based on the pattern and frequency, combined with what Chloe overheard, I believe Meredith was pressuring Elise about something specific, something significant enough that Elise felt genuinely threatened by it."
"Do you have a theory," Harrison asked.
"I do," Delgado said carefully. "I believe Meredith had feelings for you that predated your marriage to Elise, feelings she never acted on directly while you two were together, but which apparently resurfaced with considerable intensity as your marriage continued. I believe she was pressuring Elise to leave you, perhaps threatening to reveal some fabricated scandal, or simply escalating harassment she hoped would eventually drive Elise away entirely."
Harrison sat with that theory, a specific, sickening picture finally forming completely, a woman so fixated on claiming his life for herself that she'd been willing to terrorize his wife for months, and, if the evidence continued pointing where it currently pointed, ultimately end her life entirely rather than accept any other outcome.
"I want her arrested," he said. "As soon as you have enough to actually charge her."
"We're close," Delgado said. "I want one more piece of corroborating evidence before we move, something that connects her directly and unambiguously to the night of the accident itself, not just the harassment leading up to it."
May you like
"What do you need," Harrison asked.
"The rental car," Delgado said. "If we can trace the fabricated identity used to rent that vehicle back to Meredith conclusively, that places her at the scene the night Elise actually died, which transforms this from a strong circumstantial case into something considerably more solid."
