{"id":12995,"date":"2026-09-18T11:21:02","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T11:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=12995"},"modified":"2026-09-18T11:21:02","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T11:21:02","slug":"part-18-the-repair-shop-footage-put-victor-beside-thomass-car-yet-his-next-message-forced-emily-to-question-who-had-ordered-the-fatal-sabotage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=12995","title":{"rendered":"PART 18 \u2013 The Repair-Shop Footage Put Victor Beside Thomas\u2019s Car, Yet His Next Message Forced Emily to Question Who Had Ordered the Fatal Sabotage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The footage did not show Victor touching Thomas\u2019s car.<\/p>\n<p>That mattered.<\/p>\n<p>The camera faced the rear gate, not the service bays.<\/p>\n<p>At 8:36 p.m., the man with the black square ring entered.<\/p>\n<p>At 8:49, he left.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas collected his vehicle the following morning.<\/p>\n<p>Five weeks later, he complained that a brake fitting had been loosened.<\/p>\n<p>Then, after another service visit, he died when a brake line failed.<\/p>\n<p>The chronology was deeply suspicious.<\/p>\n<p>It was not yet a complete chain.<\/p>\n<p>Police reopened the investigation into Thomas Whitmore\u2019s death.<\/p>\n<p>Sarah cried when Harrison told her.<\/p>\n<p>Not loudly.<\/p>\n<p>She pressed her fist against her mouth and turned away from the camera.<\/p>\n<p>Emily gave her the silence she needed.<\/p>\n<p>When Sarah finally spoke, she said, \u201cI spent two years telling myself Dad caused the crash because he drove too fast.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harrison answered gently.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe still do not know the legal cause of his death.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sarah nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She had learned the phrase too.<\/p>\n<p>Verification before conclusion.<\/p>\n<p>That evening, Mark visited Leo under supervision.<\/p>\n<p>He seemed distracted.<\/p>\n<p>Emily nearly asked whether he wanted to cancel.<\/p>\n<p>Then Leo sneezed milk onto Mark\u2019s shirt.<\/p>\n<p>For the first time all day, Mark laughed.<\/p>\n<p>The sound startled both of them.<\/p>\n<p>He wiped Leo\u2019s mouth with a cloth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe has your timing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy timing is excellent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe waited until I changed shirts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The exchange lasted only seconds.<\/p>\n<p>Then the distance returned.<\/p>\n<p>Emily watched Mark hold their son.<\/p>\n<p>There was tenderness in him.<\/p>\n<p>There had always been tenderness.<\/p>\n<p>That was why betrayal could not be reduced to a cartoon.<\/p>\n<p>Mark had not been pretending every morning he warmed bottles or every night he carried Leo through the hallway when the baby would not sleep.<\/p>\n<p>He had loved them.<\/p>\n<p>He had also hidden financial danger, manipulated Emily\u2019s choices, and tried to control her exit from the family.<\/p>\n<p>Love did not cancel conduct.<\/p>\n<p>Conduct did not make every loving moment false.<\/p>\n<p>Emily was learning to hold both without forcing either to disappear.<\/p>\n<p>After the visit, Mark lingered near the front door.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDaniel says prosecutors may want me to testify about Victor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen listen to Daniel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI will.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily almost smiled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrowth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark accepted the sarcasm.<\/p>\n<p>Then his expression changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s something else.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She waited.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy father wants to meet you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI assumed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why mention it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause he says he has information about Thomas\u2019s crash.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTell Harrison.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does Richard want?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo speak to you directly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe says he won\u2019t give the information otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen he can explain that to investigators.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s what I told him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily looked at him more carefully.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou told Richard no again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m practicing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The remark almost sounded like the old Mark.<\/p>\n<p>She did not let nostalgia decide anything.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood night.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He left.<\/p>\n<p>Richard\u2019s attempt to bargain lasted less than twelve hours.<\/p>\n<p>By morning, investigators had contacted his attorney.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever leverage Richard imagined he possessed diminished quickly when the alternative involved obstructing a reopened death investigation.<\/p>\n<p>He agreed to an interview.<\/p>\n<p>Emily did not attend.<\/p>\n<p>Harrison later provided the portion relevant to her civil matters.<\/p>\n<p>Richard admitted that, approximately six weeks before Thomas died, Victor told him Thomas had uncovered \u201csensitive reserve information.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat reserve?\u201d investigators asked.<\/p>\n<p>Richard claimed he believed Victor meant Seventeen North.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you instruct Victor to stop Thomas?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI instructed him to find out what Thomas had.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cConversation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFinancial pressure?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cViolence?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you know Thomas believed someone had tampered with his brakes?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard paused.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily stopped reading.<\/p>\n<p>He had known.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen did you learn?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter Thomas complained to Victor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVictor told you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought Thomas was being dramatic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The answer was horrifying precisely because it was ordinary.<\/p>\n<p>Richard had dismissed the warning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Victor tell you he visited the repair shop?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you send him there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Evelyn?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot to my knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you ever authorize physical harm against Thomas?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard then volunteered something.<\/p>\n<p>Two days before Thomas died, he and Victor had argued.<\/p>\n<p>Victor wanted permission to recover copies Thomas had taken.<\/p>\n<p>Richard refused.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Thomas was my brother.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The investigator challenged him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou had already damaged his business.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard did not deny it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBusiness pressure is reversible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd brake failure?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI did not know Victor had touched his vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That phrasing mattered.<\/p>\n<p>Not if.<\/p>\n<p>Had.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy do you believe he did?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause after Thomas died, Victor came to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe next morning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat the problem was over.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily\u2019s skin went cold.<\/p>\n<p>The investigator asked Richard exactly what he understood.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI asked whether he meant Thomas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe told me not to ask questions I didn\u2019t want answered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard looked down in the recorded transcript.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Again.<\/p>\n<p>Nothing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause my brother was dead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is precisely why most people would ask.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard\u2019s answer took several seconds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was afraid of what he would say.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily set the pages down.<\/p>\n<p>Richard Whitmore, who had spent decades convincing everyone that control was courage, had been afraid to ask his employee whether he killed his brother.<\/p>\n<p>Harrison watched her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cContinue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There was more.<\/p>\n<p>Richard had considered firing Victor.<\/p>\n<p>He did not.<\/p>\n<p>Victor possessed too much information.<\/p>\n<p>Instead Richard reduced his access while quietly preparing to restructure several companies.<\/p>\n<p>Victor noticed.<\/p>\n<p>That explained why Victor began building stronger independent leverage.<\/p>\n<p>M-42 expanded.<\/p>\n<p>Payments increased.<\/p>\n<p>Evelyn became more important to him.<\/p>\n<p>The family machine had continued operating after Thomas\u2019s death because every person inside it feared exposing the others.<\/p>\n<p>Richard\u2019s silence protected Victor.<\/p>\n<p>Victor\u2019s records constrained Richard.<\/p>\n<p>Evelyn\u2019s reserve gave her independence.<\/p>\n<p>Marianne enabled Evelyn.<\/p>\n<p>Mark obeyed enough to preserve continuity.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas\u2019s death did not end the structure.<\/p>\n<p>It stabilized it.<\/p>\n<p>Until Emily began tracing her own two hundred thousand dollars.<\/p>\n<p>At noon, Harrison received a message from Victor.<\/p>\n<p>Not through his lawyer.<\/p>\n<p>Directly.<\/p>\n<p>An encrypted email arrived at Harrison\u2019s firm.<\/p>\n<p>Subject:<\/p>\n<p>MERCER.<\/p>\n<p>The message contained no greeting.<\/p>\n<p>You are building the wrong murder case.<\/p>\n<p>Harrison immediately preserved it and notified investigators.<\/p>\n<p>A second message arrived three minutes later.<\/p>\n<p>I was at the shop. I did not kill Thomas.<\/p>\n<p>Emily read over Harrison\u2019s shoulder.<\/p>\n<p>Then a third.<\/p>\n<p>Ask Richard what he paid Northline on October 14.<\/p>\n<p>The date was six days before Thomas died.<\/p>\n<p>Emily\u2019s pulse rose.<\/p>\n<p>Investigators obtained the relevant records.<\/p>\n<p>Northline had received $75,000 from a Whitmore subsidiary.<\/p>\n<p>Description:<\/p>\n<p>SPECIAL RESOLUTION.<\/p>\n<p>The phrase from the old archive ledger.<\/p>\n<p>Richard\u2019s initials appeared beside the authorization.<\/p>\n<p>Mark stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSpecial resolution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily remembered thirty-one such entries.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did it mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No one had established that.<\/p>\n<p>Now Victor was pointing directly toward one.<\/p>\n<p>Richard\u2019s attorney was contacted.<\/p>\n<p>Richard initially claimed not to remember the payment.<\/p>\n<p>Records refreshed his memory.<\/p>\n<p>It was a discretionary security retainer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard resisted.<\/p>\n<p>Then finally answered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo recover company property.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom Thomas?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat property?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCopies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho received the money?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNorthline.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho controlled Northline?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVictor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The picture darkened.<\/p>\n<p>Six days before Thomas died, Richard paid Victor seventy-five thousand dollars to recover documents from Thomas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy what means?\u201d investigators asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhatever lawful means were necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That qualifier sounded suspiciously convenient.<\/p>\n<p>Victor sent another message.<\/p>\n<p>Lawful was added after Thomas died.<\/p>\n<p>Harrison stared at the screen.<\/p>\n<p>If true, original documentation might establish what Richard actually authorized.<\/p>\n<p>The M-42 archive contained a copy.<\/p>\n<p>The examiner located it within hours.<\/p>\n<p>The original work authorization had no word lawful.<\/p>\n<p>It read:<\/p>\n<p>Recover T.W. copies. Full discretion. Resolve permanently.<\/p>\n<p>Emily felt the air leave her lungs.<\/p>\n<p>Richard\u2019s signature appeared at the bottom.<\/p>\n<p>Full discretion.<\/p>\n<p>Resolve permanently.<\/p>\n<p>Mark looked physically ill.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s an order.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harrison corrected him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is language that requires explanation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat explanation makes that good?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI did not say good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard\u2019s lawyer requested an immediate supplemental interview.<\/p>\n<p>Richard claimed \u201cresolve permanently\u201d meant end the document problem permanently.<\/p>\n<p>Not kill Thomas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy use full discretion?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause I trusted Victor to handle security matters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you understand Victor sometimes used threats?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you understand he had pressured Peter Lang?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you know he had surveilled Thomas?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen what limits did you impose?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Richard had no good answer.<\/p>\n<p>Emily saw the distinction clearly.<\/p>\n<p>There might never have been a spoken murder order.<\/p>\n<p>But Richard had given a dangerous man broad authority to \u201cresolve\u201d his brother while knowing that man used intimidation.<\/p>\n<p>Whether that amounted to criminal responsibility was for investigators and courts.<\/p>\n<p>Morally, the distance Richard had spent years constructing looked very thin.<\/p>\n<p>Victor\u2019s next message complicated it again.<\/p>\n<p>I took the money. I went to the shop. I loosened nothing.<\/p>\n<p>Then:<\/p>\n<p>Thomas asked me to go.<\/p>\n<p>Emily stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another message arrived.<\/p>\n<p>He thought someone had already touched the car. He wanted me to see whether the shop had cameras.<\/p>\n<p>That could explain Victor\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n<p>It could also be an elaborate lie built around evidence he knew investigators had found.<\/p>\n<p>Harrison did not respond directly.<\/p>\n<p>Police negotiators took over communication.<\/p>\n<p>Victor eventually agreed to send a statement through his attorney.<\/p>\n<p>His account was specific.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas called him after noticing the soft brake pedal.<\/p>\n<p>He suspected sabotage.<\/p>\n<p>He did not want to involve Richard.<\/p>\n<p>Victor went to the repair shop after hours because he knew the owner and wanted to inspect surveillance coverage.<\/p>\n<p>He claimed he found nothing useful.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas later had the fitting repaired.<\/p>\n<p>Victor denied touching the vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy didn\u2019t he tell Thomas he already knew about the complaint when Thomas recorded him?\u201d Emily asked.<\/p>\n<p>Harrison read further.<\/p>\n<p>Victor said he realized Thomas was recording and deliberately acted uninformed.<\/p>\n<p>That was plausible.<\/p>\n<p>Conveniently plausible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat about the seventy-five thousand?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Victor admitted receiving it.<\/p>\n<p>He said Richard wanted Thomas\u2019s copied archive recovered.<\/p>\n<p>He kept the money and did not recover the records.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Because, Victor claimed, he wanted Thomas to retain them as insurance against Richard.<\/p>\n<p>The old secret partnership again.<\/p>\n<p>Victor had been simultaneously paid to recover evidence and secretly benefited from its continued existence.<\/p>\n<p>That was exactly the kind of double dealing Daniel\u2019s drive documented.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen why tell Richard the problem was over after Thomas died?\u201d Mark asked.<\/p>\n<p>Victor\u2019s statement answered.<\/p>\n<p>Because Richard was frightened, and frightened men were easier to control.<\/p>\n<p>Emily felt disgust.<\/p>\n<p>Even if Victor had not killed Thomas, he had exploited the death immediately.<\/p>\n<p>Then investigators asked the question that mattered.<\/p>\n<p>If Victor did not sabotage Thomas\u2019s car, who did?<\/p>\n<p>Victor provided a name.<\/p>\n<p>Not Richard.<\/p>\n<p>Not Evelyn.<\/p>\n<p>Not Marianne.<\/p>\n<p>A man called Owen Pike.<\/p>\n<p>Emily had never heard it.<\/p>\n<p>Mark had.<\/p>\n<p>His expression changed instantly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOwen worked for Northline.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVehicle security.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harrison searched the M-42 inventory.<\/p>\n<p>Owen Pike appeared in payment records.<\/p>\n<p>Former mechanic.<\/p>\n<p>Northline contractor.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple SPECIAL RESOLUTION payments.<\/p>\n<p>One payment occurred four days before Thomas died.<\/p>\n<p>$18,000.<\/p>\n<p>Authorized by Victor.<\/p>\n<p>Victor admitted paying him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what?\u201d investigators asked.<\/p>\n<p>Victor\u2019s answer was devastating.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo follow Thomas and recover the copies if he moved them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you tell Pike to damage the vehicle?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you tell him to frighten Thomas?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Victor paused.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI left that to him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Again the same architecture.<\/p>\n<p>Delegation without limits.<\/p>\n<p>Language designed to preserve deniability.<\/p>\n<p>Richard gave Victor discretion.<\/p>\n<p>Victor gave Pike discretion.<\/p>\n<p>Everyone claimed they wanted pressure, not violence.<\/p>\n<p>And Thomas ended up dead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is Owen Pike?\u201d Emily asked.<\/p>\n<p>Harrison looked at the investigator\u2019s update.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo current address.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The last known employment record was six years old.<\/p>\n<p>Then the technician searching Daniel Mercer\u2019s drive found Pike\u2019s name.<\/p>\n<p>Not in a financial document.<\/p>\n<p>In one of Daniel\u2019s handwritten notes.<\/p>\n<p>O. Pike \u2014 asked about Emily. Told him nothing.<\/p>\n<p>The date was eight years before Thomas died.<\/p>\n<p>Emily\u2019s blood went cold.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOwen knew my father?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harrison enlarged the scan.<\/p>\n<p>There was a second line beneath it.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas says Pike belongs to Victor. I think he belongs to Evelyn.<\/p>\n<p>Emily stared.<\/p>\n<p>Another man whose loyalty might not be what it appeared.<\/p>\n<p>They searched Evelyn\u2019s records.<\/p>\n<p>One old Northstar payment matched Owen Pike.<\/p>\n<p>Not through Victor.<\/p>\n<p>Directly from a Northstar subsidiary.<\/p>\n<p>Twenty-five thousand dollars.<\/p>\n<p>Nine years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Emily looked toward Harrison.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvelyn paid him before Victor did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When confronted, Evelyn went silent.<\/p>\n<p>Her lawyer asked for a break.<\/p>\n<p>They returned twenty minutes later.<\/p>\n<p>Evelyn\u2019s face had changed.<\/p>\n<p>She looked frightened.<\/p>\n<p>Not defensive.<\/p>\n<p>Frightened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy did you pay Owen Pike?\u201d Harrison asked.<\/p>\n<p>Evelyn swallowed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo watch Thomas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYears ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what purpose?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo find out what he had learned.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you ever ask Pike to damage Thomas\u2019s vehicle?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you know Victor later hired him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you know Pike was following Thomas when he died?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Evelyn looked down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark whispered, \u201cMom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She closed her eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you tell anyone?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her answer barely carried through the speaker.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause the morning after Thomas died, Owen came to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily felt her pulse hammer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Evelyn opened her eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe said Victor had gone too far.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=12996\">Click here to continue reading: PART 19: Evelyn\u2019s Nine-Year Silence About Owen Pike Finally Broke, and Her Account of Thomas\u2019s Last Night Shifted Suspicion Toward a Hidden Second Vehicle<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The footage did not show Victor touching Thomas\u2019s car. That mattered. The camera faced the rear gate, not the service bays. At 8:36 p.m., the man with the black square &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12977,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12995"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12995\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13019,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12995\/revisions\/13019"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}