I Was the Only Witness to My Mother’s Murder. Now I’m the Suspect.

When I was sixteen, a criminal broke into our home, tortured and murdered my mother, then set the house on fire to destroy the evidence. I was there and saw everything. My father, my uncle, and the police asked me again and again what happened that night. I refused to speak. They thought the shock had left me unable to speak, so they gave me a pen and asked me to write down what the killer looked like. I still said nothing and made no move to write. Ten years later, I was twenty-six. My father and I fell out over my mother’s case. We went eight years without seeing each other. Then, out of nowhere, he came to see me. I came home from work to my rented apartment and opened the door. He and my uncle were inside, watching me with cold expressions. “Lynn, were you the one who killed your mother?” Chapter 1 I went rigid. I clenched my teeth and glared at him. He was my father. How could he suspect me of murdering my own mother? Dad read the look in my eyes and gave a cold laugh. “Then why won’t you tell us who killed her?” “It’s been ten years, Lynn. How can you sleep at night? How can you even eat? “When you dream, does Susan’s burned body come back to ask why you haven’t avenged her?” I looked away and lowered my head. I didn’t know how to face him. He was forty-six, but he looked sixty-four. Dad was in the prime of his life when Mom died. His hair turned white overnight. After that, he sold the house, the car, and everything else he could sell. He pursued her killer with an obsession that never faded. In ten years, he never gave up. Now his back was bent, but the determination in his eyes was as fierce as ever. And now he had turned that determination on me. “Lynn, are you going to keep pretending you can’t speak?” “I’ve been following you for a long time. You don’t have aphasia! I saw you talking—” He pulled out his phone and played a blurry video. It showed me walking down the street. When I reached a corner, I stopped, looked up, and said, “Don’t worry. Don’t worry…” Then I looked away and kept walking. I never imagined Dad suspected me enough to follow me. Now he grabbed my collar, almost frantic. “You know who the killer is. Why won’t you tell us? Why pretend you can’t speak? “There’s only one reason… You’re the killer! You killed your mother!” My uncle couldn’t bear any more. He wrapped his arms around Dad and pulled him away. “That’s enough! “My sister was tortured for hours before she died. How could Lynn possibly have done that to her?” Dad ground his teeth. “She hated her mother. She’s insane! She’s capable of anything! “Even if she didn’t kill her herself, she helped the person who did!” I saw the tangle of emotions in Dad’s bloodshot eyes. My worst fear came true. Dad found out about another case from ten years ago. Chapter 2 I was sixteen and in my second year of high school. My parents ran a business out of town, and Grandma was too old to look after me anymore. Mom came back, rented an apartment for me in town, and stayed with me for a few months. She was away most of the time, and I was at an age when everything felt raw. We barely spoke and weren’t close. I went to school. She worked. I got home late, but she got back even later because she had suppliers to meet, prices to negotiate, and business dinners to attend. One day, I thought someone followed me home. I told her and asked her to pick me up after school. Mom promised she would, but she never came. I waited for her at school until midnight. Rain poured down. There was nowhere to shelter, so I gritted my teeth and ran home. That was the night the nightmare began. As I passed through an alley, the person who had been following me jumped out and pinned me to the ground. The rain and thunder drowned out my cries for help. By the time I got home, I was soaked in rain and blood. Mom was fast asleep on the sofa. The apartment smelled of alcohol. “Lynnie?” She opened her eyes suddenly, as though the smell of blood had woken her. The moment she saw me clearly, she sobered up. She wrapped her arms around me and burst into tears. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry… Lynnie… It’s my fault. All of it!” She said she meant to pick me up that night. But if she stayed for one more round of drinks, she could secure the lowest price from a supplier. She thought I would be fine. I almost laughed. Maybe it was the pain. Maybe it was hatred. I pushed her away and refused to let her touch me. I said only one thing: “Call the police.” Mom began to wail again. “We can’t call the police! Lynnie, if we do, everyone will find out what happened to you! How will you face anyone at school? What will you do afterward? “I’m here now, sweetheart. “I won’t leave again. I’ll stay with you…” But less than three months later, Mom was brutally murdered. After she died, I thought no one would ever uncover what happened to me that night. I was wrong. Dad found out. He took out a battered notebook and threw it in front of me. “Your mother kept a journal. Before she died, she wrote down everything that mattered. “She was afraid someone would find it, so she locked it in a metal box and hid it. The fire didn’t destroy it. I found it…” Dad seized my collar. “Your mother made a mistake, but she didn’t mean for that to happen! She refused to call the police because she thought she was protecting you! “How could you bring yourself to kill her? What kind of monster are you?” His shouting made my ears ache. My uncle stopped trying to calm him. With trembling hands, he picked up the journal from the table. The handwriting was Mom’s neat . She wrote about how her carelessness led to the attack on me. There were stains on several pages, perhaps from her tears. I could see how deeply she regretted it. My uncle finished reading and wiped his eyes. His voice shook. “Darren, calm down. “Even if this happened, it doesn’t prove Lynn killed her. “My sister was stabbed more than thirty times. There were signs of sexual assault too. Lynn couldn’t have done that—” He pushed Dad aside and took my hands, his eyes pleading. “Lynnie, do you resent your mother so much that you’re protecting her killer and stopping us from getting justice for her? “I swear, if you tell us who killed her, I’ll help you get justice for what happened to you too. I’ll cut the animal who hurt you to pieces with my own hands.” His eyes were red, and I couldn’t bear to meet his intense gaze. Before I could respond, Dad gave a bitter laugh. “You don’t need to avenge her. That animal is already dead, and Lynn probably killed him herself! The police are investigating. We’ll have answers soon. “Lynn, I don’t want to send you to prison. But I can’t let Susan’s murder go unanswered. You’ve left me no choice!” Chapter 3 They kept me under watch and wouldn’t let me use my phone. All I could do was stay in the room and wait for the police to finish their investigation. Dad and my uncle sat nearby, watching me and smoking one cigarette after another. Whenever I met Dad’s eyes, I saw that he no longer saw me as his daughter. To him, I was an enemy—a monster who had tormented him for ten years. I didn’t blame him. I saw my mother’s murder. I saw the killer’s face, and I remembered everything. Yet no matter what Dad did, he couldn’t get a word of it out of me. He loved Mom. After she died, bringing her killer to justice became the only thing that kept him going. He gave up everything and spent ten years chasing answers until he barely seemed alive. But he found nothing. Then he discovered I could speak. The shock hadn’t left me unable to talk. I was pretending and hiding what I knew. He also found out that I had been raped. The man who raped me died on the street a week before Mom’s murder, his limbs twisted grotesquely. Dad suspected I killed him. In his mind, I was capable of murder and ruthless enough to do it, so he concluded that I blamed Mom too and hired someone to kill her. That was why I refused to identify her killer. His reasoning made sense. I didn’t defend myself. I waited in silence for the police to finish their investigation. Ring, ring— Dad’s phone rang. He answered it at once. I knew the voice on the other end well. It was Leo Lane, the lead investigator. “Darren, are you with Lynn?” Dad’s voice was hoarse. “Yes! Did Lynn have anything to do with that monster’s death?” “Yes. Keep Lynn there. We’re on our way.” The moment the call ended, Dad punched me hard in the face. “If you could kill the man who hurt you, why did you keep blaming your mother? “She didn’t refuse to call the police because she didn’t love you. She thought she was protecting you! Things were different back then. She was afraid people would shame you until you couldn’t bear it! “Before she came back to stay with you, she missed you so much she couldn’t sleep. She held your photo and cried night after night. “How… how could you…” Dad couldn’t finish. He broke down, buried his face in his hands, and cried until his voice turned raw. My uncle smoked in silence. He looked at me as though I were a stranger, or some kind of monster. I held my swollen cheek and stared at the ceiling without expression. A tear seemed to slide down my face. It tickled. I wiped it away and told myself, “Soon. It’ll be soon. This will all be over soon.” Twenty minutes later, Leo arrived with several officers. He snapped cold handcuffs around my wrists. “Lynn Wade, you’re suspected of involvement in a murder from ten years ago. Come with us for questioning.” Chapter 4 In the interrogation room, Leo showed me a photograph of the victim. He was dead, and ten years had passed. But the sight of his face still made me shake with fear that reached into my bones. He was the man who followed and raped me ten years ago. It took me a long time to calm down. “Do you know him?” Leo asked. I nodded. “How?” There was no point hiding it. I picked up a pen to write my answer, but Leo cleared his throat. “You can stop pretending. Your father told us you can speak. You don’t have aphasia.” I gave a bitter smile, set down the pen, and said, “He raped me.” “Why didn’t you report it?” “My mother wouldn’t let me.” Leo’s voice turned stern, and his gaze sharpened. “So, you took revenge and murdered him?” I shook my head. “I didn’t kill him.” “You’re still denying it? We couldn’t solve his murder ten years ago because we didn’t have the technology. After your father came to us, we examined the evidence again. We found traces of your skin on his frozen remains. The DNA matched yours exactly!” Before I could answer, Leo stood and leaned over me. “Confess, and I’ll ask for leniency. You were a minor ten years ago, so your sentence won’t be too severe. “But if you keep resisting, you’ll face the harshest sentence possible. You could spend the rest of your life in prison!” I blinked. My expression barely changed. I wasn’t afraid of prison. Ten years ago, I was already prepared to spend the rest of my life there. It just wasn’t time yet. Leo was bluffing. His evidence wasn’t enough to convict me. I took a deep breath and met his eyes. “I told you. I didn’t kill him. “Then why were traces of you found on his body?” I shook my head. “I don’t know. There’s a lot I can’t remember from ten years ago. If you have proof, charge me. If you don’t, let me go.” After that, I refused to answer anything else. Forty-eight hours later, they made no progress and had to release me. But as soon as I came out, Dad and my uncle took me to their car. Leo pretended not to notice. He stayed nearby to make sure things didn’t get out of hand. In the car, Dad fixed his bloodshot eyes on me. “You spoke to Detective Lane. Stop pretending you can’t talk! “I’ll ask you one last time. What happened the night your mother was murdered? “I’m warning you. If you hide anything else, there’s no telling what I’ll do! “If you could hire someone to kill, so can I. I’ll find a way to make you talk!” He looked as though he had lost his mind. Ten years passed without an answer to Mom’s murder. For ten years, she couldn’t rest in peace. It drove too many people to the edge. I was almost there myself. But I could finally see a glimmer of hope. “Wait a little longer. Give me one last month. After that, I won’t hide anything from you.” Dad clenched his teeth. “Why a month? What are you planning?” I didn’t answer. I looked out the car window. A spirit floated there, visible only to me. She had stayed with me for ten years, but she would soon disappear. I smiled and waved. “Goodbye, Mom. I’ll be good and listen to you.” But I wouldn’t. I kept the truth from Dad for ten years. I lied to her for ten years too.