I could barely process what I was hearing.
“Why wouldn’t she call the police?”
“She says she planned to.”
“Planned to?”
My voice rose.
“She hid evidence in my son’s playhouse.”
The officer remained calm.
“She also says the man is her older brother.”
I looked outside again.
Melissa sat with her head lowered.
The officer explained that her brother, Darren, had recently been released from jail.
He had begun appearing near the school route.
Melissa had recognized his truck and confronted him.
Two days earlier, she had found the canvas bag inside his vehicle while he was inside a gas station.
She took the bag and drove away.
Then she panicked.
Instead of immediately reporting him, she hid it.
She believed Darren would search her apartment first.
She never expected Ethan to see her.
“Jacob noticed the truck following the bus,” the officer added. “He also saw Melissa speaking to the driver yesterday. He thought she was involved.”
