One Last Breath by Sarah Sutton (speld decodable readers txt) 📗

drive out of anger. I was frustrated because I kept getting denied from these stations. No one has taken my work in months, no one needs anyone full-time. It’s been stressful, all right?” He leaned back in his chair again as he heaved a large sigh.

“Well, that still doesn’t explain why your memory card was found buried with a victim,” Tara reminded him again.

He was growing more frustrated. A vein had begun to pulsate in his neck, but he steadied himself before speaking. “I told you, I sold it. Someone’s framing me.”

Tara still did not fully understand why he had thought someone was framing him in the first place. They hadn’t shown him the image of Sofia at his house, but yet he had already jumped to that conclusion enough to want to destroy the memory card. They still had yet to ask him.

“What made you think someone was framing you?”

“I,” he started, looking anxiously between Tara and Warren. He then shook his head. “I knew it was the one I sold once you showed me the pictures. I know how these things work. I’ve covered many cases. You found it at the scene, you clearly thought it was a suspect’s.” He paused to catch his breath. “I knew I didn’t put it there. Someone else did, and whoever I sold that to was sketchy as all hell.”

“Why’s that?” Tara asked.

“He called me from an ad I posted. Didn’t want to meet me. He told me to leave the memory card in a mailbox, and he left the cash. I didn’t think that was too weird because he said he wasn’t going to be home, but then a few days later I called him again to see if he wanted something else I was selling, and the phone was disconnected.” He heaved another sigh, catching his breath.

Tara looked toward Warren. She wasn’t sure if she should believe him or not, but she could tell Warren wasn’t convinced.

“What was the address?” Warren finally asked.

Pain crossed Ben’s face at Warren’s question. He opened his mouth to speak but then hesitated, only making Tara think with more certainty that he was weaving this lie as he went. “It was near Rehoboth, 24 Beach Lane Road, but for all I know, he gave me some random address.”

It was as if he were trying to have an explanation for his lies before they even caught him in them.

“Where were you two nights ago?” Warren barked.

“I was home. You can ask my mom, really.” But at his words, his face fell. He even knew it wasn’t a solid alibi. “Look, I know this all sounds crazy, but someone is framing me.”

Warren suddenly stood up, his face tight with anger. He placed his hands on the table, leaning inches from Ben’s face. “We’ll see about that,” he said as Ben cowered in his chair. Warren lingered a moment and then straightened before heading to the door. Tara followed behind. It was clear that Warren was convinced that Ben was guilty, and Tara couldn’t help but agree.

***

Tara and Warren sat in an office at the police station, a phone on speaker in front of them. They were able to find a land line phone number for the address that Ben had given them, and they were now waiting for someone to pick up.

“Hello?” a woman’s voice finally spoke.

Warren cleared his throat. “I’m looking for someone I sold a memory card to the other week. I don’t have his name, but he said he lived at this address. I just wanted to see if he’d be interested in some of my camera gear.”

“I think you have the wrong number,” the voice replied.

“Are you sure?”

“Only Mrs. Westbrook lives her, and me, her caretaker. She’s ninety-five. Neither one of us would need a camera.” The woman then hung up and Warren sighed, turning to Tara.

“Well, that proves it,” he said. “He’s giving us the runaround.”

Tara nodded. She could tell from Warren’s expression that he had no doubt Ben was who they’d been looking for all along. “So you think it’s him?”

“I mean, how else would he have those pictures found on the memory card? That picture of Sofia has to be his. He probably dropped it by accident, realized later, and then smashed the hard drive when he saw us.” Tara couldn’t help but agree. It seemed unlikely that he was being framed, and the broken hard drive in his basement was incredibly suspicious. Warren rolled his eyes as he continued. “And he doesn’t have a solid alibi. Of course his mom’s going to vouch for him, but even if she did think he was home, he could’ve snuck out that window in the basement for all we know.”

Warren was certainly right. This was the closest they had ever been, and they now had something that linked him directly to the crime scene.

“We have enough to hold him,” Warren added. “Of course, a murder weapon would help, but it could still be buried in the beach somewhere. We’ll keep the crews still out there a bit longer. It’ll be difficult to find, but we’ll try.”

He was referring to the police who had been diligently searching the beach for the bodies, until they uncovered them. It was extremely possible that the murder weapon had been buried somewhere along the beach as well, but it was just a string they would be looking for. It was not an easy object to uncover.

The cars in Ben Ford’s driveway had already been driven to the station as well. Forensics would be searching them overnight. And while Tara believed it was likely that Ben could be the killer, she needed more evidence to be fully convinced.

Warren looked at the clock hanging by the doorway. “It’s late,” he said. “We’ll check back in in the morning.” At his words, Tara immediately remembered that John’s gig was tonight, and she spun around, looking at the time. It was eight. He was set to go on in