Chapter 8 - THE EVIDENCE
The next hour was a blur of chaos, flashing red and blue lights, and tearful revelations.
Derek Voss was tackled to the floor of the kitchen, his arms slammed behind his back as heavy steel handcuffs clicked around his wrists. He screamed threats, curses, and insults at me as officers pulled him to his feet and dragged him out the shattered front doorway.
Marlene Voss collapsed onto the sofa, weeping hysterically, crying about her poor health and begging the officers for mercy, claiming she was just an innocent elderly mother who knew nothing about her son’s affairs.
Her act ended the second a female investigator emerged from the master bedroom holding a locked metal safe they had cut open with a saw.
Inside the safe were hundreds of unlabelled amber pill bottles, ledgers detailing illegal loan payouts, and a handwritten diary kept by Marlene herself—detailing the exact daily doses of heavy antipsychotics she had been slip-feeding into Caroline’s food for over three years.
“Marlene Voss,” the lead investigator said sternly, pulling her off the couch and snapping handcuffs onto her wrists. “You are under arrest for conspiracy to commit severe bodily harm, illegal distribution of controlled substances, elder abuse, and attempted toxic incapacitation.”
“It was Derek!” Marlene shrieked, instantly betraying her own son without hesitation. “He made me do it! It was all his idea! He wanted the inheritance money! I’m innocent! I’m an old woman!”
Tessa was handcuffed as well, weeping loudly as she was escorted to a patrol car for her active role in using Caroline’s stolen credit cards to fund her tuition and lifestyle.
While the police cleared the house, two emergency medical technicians gently helped Caroline into the back of an ambulance parked at the curb.
I sat in the back of the ambulance beside her, holding both of her hands tightly in mine.
Caroline was shivering, her eyes wide as she watched her husband and his mother being loaded into separate police cruisers in front of the gathering crowd of neighbors.
“They’re gone, Caroline,” I whispered softly, tears rolling down my cheeks. “They’ll never touch you again. They’ll never hurt you again.”
Caroline looked at me, her mind still foggy from the remnants of the drugs, but a tiny spark of life was slowly returning to her eyes.
“Adrienne...” she choked out, her voice barely a whisper. “My... my keys...”
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I reached into my pocket, pulled out a brand-new set of shiny brass keys I had cut for her earlier that morning, and placed them into her trembling palm.
“You’re free, little sister,” I said, kissing her forehead. “You have your life back.”
