The camera outside our house made sense too.
Derek could monitor our movements.
He could confirm the case had arrived.
He could know when we left for the storage unit.
He had planned almost everything.
Almost.
He hadn’t expected a barber named Marcus to notice something strange behind Ethan’s ear.
And he hadn’t expected Ryan to have already left the real truth behind.
The police decided to use Monday.
That was the day Derek expected to meet Ethan near school.
Ethan never went anywhere near him.
An officer stayed close to the school.
Detectives waited in unmarked cars.
I sat inside one of them.
About ten minutes after school ended, Derek appeared.
I hadn’t seen him since before Ryan died.
He looked older.
Grayer.
Otherwise, completely ordinary.
That was what disturbed me most.
He stood across the street, smiling warmly as children came outside.
He looked exactly like a friendly uncle waiting for his nephew.
Two detectives approached him.
Derek immediately acted innocent.
He was only there to see family.
He had simply wanted to give Ethan a few things that had belonged to Ryan.
Then one detective showed him a photograph.
The hidden camera from my porch.
