Chapter 5
The glass didn't break.
But Linda's face drained of color.
She bent down to pick it up, but I beat her to it and stepped on the bag first.
"Whose glass is this?" I asked.
Linda snapped right away, "Who else would it belong to? Quit acting all mysterious!"
Her cousin reached out and shoved me.
"Put that down!" he demanded.
I didn't fight back. I just pointed the camera at his face.
"If you lay a finger on me, I'll call the cops right now," I warned.
The crowd started murmuring.
"That glass doesn't look like one of theirs," someone said.
"Why's his mother-in-law freaking out?" another person asked.
Linda heard them and turned around, yelling.
"What's your problem? Never seen a family fight before?" Linda yelled.
Just then, my phone buzzed.
My supervisor had sent me a screenshot of the access log.
I checked in at 9:06 AM.
I checked out at 6:13 PM.
There was also a security video of me entering the company lobby, wearing the same black jacket from last night.
I held my phone up to Linda.
"Take a good look," I said.
She just glanced at it and immediately turned away.
"Who knows if you snuck out in the middle?" she snapped.
I opened the second screenshot.
At 2:17 AM, the security camera by the conference room showed me asleep with my head on the table.
At 4:52 AM, the cleaning staff came by, and I was still there.
Linda stubbornly denied everything.
"You can edit security footage!" she snapped.
Claire's cousin chimed in, "Yeah, these days you can fake just about anything."
I almost burst out laughing.
Guess when someone's shameless enough, even hard proof gets called a lie.
The property manager, sensing things were getting out of hand, leaned in and whispered, "Mr. Reed, maybe we should let the police handle this?"
I replied, "I already called them."
Ten minutes later, the cops showed up.
I told them everything, about the glass, the clothing tag, the access logs, and what the neighbor overheard.
Linda cut me off right away.
"Officer, he's just trying to change the subject! He wants to smear my daughter and say she cheated!" Linda shouted.
The officer turned to Mrs. Sawyer.
Mrs. Sawyer flinched when her name was called.
I didn't rush her.
Rain dripped from the tip of her umbrella onto the hallway tiles.
After a long pause, she said quietly, "Honestly, the man's voice I heard last night, it just wasn't Adam."
Linda's face turned pale with fury.
"You're lying! When did I ever go to your place?" she snapped.
Mrs. Sawyer looked up.
"This morning, you came to my house with a bag of fruit, told me Claire had lost the baby, and asked me not to say anything. I don't want any trouble, but I can't just let Adam take the fall for this," she said.
The hallway went dead silent.
The officer bagged up the glass as evidence.
All of a sudden, Linda grabbed her chest.
"Ugh, my heart! It hurts," she cried out.
Claire's cousin scrambled to help her.
"Officer, he's making my aunt sick," he said.
The officer just said, "If you need to go to the hospital, go. But if we need you to cooperate with the investigation, then cooperate."
When I got back to the hospital, Claire had already been moved to a private room.
Two Evans relatives were standing at the door, staring at me like I was a criminal.
I pushed open the door and walked in.
Claire was sitting up in bed, having some oatmeal.
When she saw me, her hand trembled, and she spilled oatmeal all over the blanket.
Linda rushed to the bedside.
"Claire, he took the glass from home, and now he's forcing Mrs. Sawyer to say things against us," she said.
Claire's head snapped up.
"Why did you take the glass?" she asked.
Watching Claire's reaction, the last shred of hope inside me shattered.
"I'm just trying to find out who that person really is," I said to Claire.
She set the bowl down, her fingers trembling uncontrollably.
"Adam, do you really have to push me until I can't even show my face anymore?" she asked, her voice shaking.
Her relatives were standing around the room.
Someone snickered.
"Can't even protect his own wife, just busy snooping on her," someone sneered.
"Men are just scared of being cheated on. Losing the baby doesn't even bother him," another person scoffed.
I walked over to the bed and showed Claire my work log as proof.
"I wasn't home last night," I said.
Claire's eyes grew teary.
"I'm not saying you were there," Claire whispered.
Everyone in the room froze.
Linda's face twisted in shock.
"Claire!" she shouted.
Claire suddenly snapped out of it and quickly corrected herself.
"I mean, I was in so much pain, I wasn't thinking straight. I don't really know," she said.
I set the evidence right in front of her.
"So why didn't you speak up for me?" I asked.
She bit down on her lip, and tears fell.
"I was scared," she whispered.
"Scared of what?" I pressed.
She stayed silent.
I pushed further, "Are you scared I'll find out Brian came over?"
Suddenly, there was a faint noise at the door.
Everyone turned to look.
A tall, thin man stood in the doorway, wearing a mask and carrying a bag of fruit.
His eyes were sunken, and his face was pale.
His gaze flickered with panic when he spotted me.
Linda rushed over and blocked his way.
"What are you doing here? Get out, now!" Linda snapped.
The man didn't move.
Claire's breathing suddenly quickened, and the monitor started beeping rapidly.
I stared at him.
"Brian?" I called out.