Chapter 3 - The Blue Phone
Mitchell did not answer immediately.
Neither did Rusk.
The silence stretched.
Finally Mitchell said, "Why would she?"
Rusk laughed.
"Just checking a rumor."
"What rumor?"
"Death row gets strange on execution days."
Mitchell stood.
"Where are you right now, Detective?"
Another pause.
"Why?"
"Simple question."
"I'm working."
"Where?"
Rusk hung up.
Mitchell stared at the phone.
Then he called Leah.
"Don't bring that phone anywhere near the county police department."
"I wasn't planning to."
"Rusk just called me."
Leah stopped walking.
"What did he want?"
"He asked if Chloe mentioned a phone."
Owen heard through the speaker.
His face changed.
"How could he know?"
"Exactly."
Leah looked at Peter.
"Does anyone else know what we found?"
"No."
"Did you call anyone?"
Peter looked offended.
"My brother may have hidden evidence proving his wife didn't kill him. Who exactly would I call?"
Leah turned back to the phone.
"Warden, document that call."
"Already am."
"And get Elena's execution team away from her."
Mitchell frowned.
"I can't stop official procedure without a stay."
"Then slow everything you legally can."
At noon, an independent digital forensics specialist arrived at Leah's office.
Dr. Mina Shah placed the blue phone inside a shielded evidence bag before attempting to power it.
"Battery's dead."
"Can you recover it?"
"Probably."
"How long?"
Mina looked at Leah.
"You don't have enough time for the answer you want."
"I need something before six."
Mina nodded once.
"Then stop talking."
At the prison, Elena was returned to her cell.
The death watch officer removed everything not permitted during final hours.
Elena sat on her bunk.
She had imagined this day a thousand times.
She had imagined screaming.
Praying.
Begging.
Instead, she found herself thinking about Nathan.
About their last morning together.
He had been distracted at breakfast.
He kept checking the kitchen window.
"You okay?" Elena had asked.
"Work."
"You've said 'work' six times."
Nathan forced a smile.
"Then I guess I'm very employed."
She had thrown a dish towel at him.
He caught it.
That was the last time she saw him alive.
At 1:06 p.m., Warden Mitchell appeared outside her cell.
Elena jumped up.
"Well?"
"They found the phone."
Her knees nearly gave out.
"Is it his?"
"Looks like it."
She covered her mouth.
"What's on it?"
"They're working on that."
"How much time?"
Mitchell didn't answer.
"Robert."
It was the first time she'd used his first name.
He looked uncomfortable.
"The state has not changed the execution schedule."
Elena's hope flickered.
"So I can still die before they open the thing that could prove I didn't do this?"
"I'm doing everything I can."
"That's what every person in this building says right before they tell me no."
Mitchell gripped the bars.
"I believe something is wrong."
Elena stared at him.
"Believing won't keep me alive."
At 2:14 p.m., Mina Shah powered the phone.
The lock screen appeared.
Leah entered Nathan's handwritten six-digit number.
Accepted.
The home screen opened.
There were almost no apps.
No photos.
No text messages.
Only one folder.
AUDIO.
Mina opened it.
Thirty-seven recordings.
Most had generic file names.
But the final recording had been renamed.
ELENA.
Leah's hand shook.
"Play it."
Mina clicked.
Static filled the room.
Then Nathan's voice.
"If you're hearing this, something happened to me."
Leah leaned closer.
Nathan continued.
"Elena had nothing to do with it."
Peter covered his mouth.
The recording crackled.
Then Nathan said:
"The man you need to investigate is Detective Calvin Rusk."
Leah closed her eyes.
But the recording wasn't over.
May you like
Nathan's next sentence changed everything.
"And Rusk isn't the one in charge."
