“He has influence all over this city.”
Sloane's expression remained calm.
“We're aware of his public position.”
I stared.
Then she added, “Public influence isn't evidence of innocence or guilt.”
I felt myself relax slightly.
She was right.
I wanted an answer.
Not another story built on assumptions.
For the following weeks, the investigation moved through records I had never expected to matter.
Vehicle registrations.
Insurance claims.
Repair invoices.
Fleet assignments.
And archived photographs documenting damage to vehicles serviced after the accident.
A dark SUV owned by a Voss-affiliated company had undergone bodywork shortly after Hannah's death.
The records described damage near a front corner.
At first, the repair appeared ordinary.
But the dates, model, and damage location were potentially significant.
Investigators obtained the underlying documentation and examined it alongside the video.
They also located a former company employee who had been assigned to coordinate vehicle maintenance.
Her name was Melissa Grant.
She had left Voss Properties two years earlier.
During the original investigation, nobody had questioned her because the SUV hadn't been identified.
Now she agreed to provide a statement.
Melissa said she remembered the repair.
She remembered an urgent request to have the vehicle transported to a private facility.
And she remembered being told not to include certain accident-related details in the ordinary fleet paperwork.
The instructions had troubled her.
She retained emails because she wanted a record explaining why the repair hadn't followed standard procedures.
When investigators contacted her, she provided them.
I learned these details later, after the appropriate parts of the investigation became public.
At the time, Sloane told me only that new evidence had strengthened the basis for further inquiry.
Then one afternoon, she called and asked me to come to the station.
I arrived with my sister.
Kelly chose to attend separately.
Diane drove her, while Tom waited outside.
Sloane met us in a quiet office.
She looked tired.
There were folders stacked across her desk.
But when she spoke, her voice was steady.
“We've established that the SUV shown in the collision footage was very likely the company vehicle identified in the repair records.”
My heart pounded.
She continued.
“Additional evidence has helped identify the person operating it that evening.”
I swallowed.
“Who?”
For several seconds, she looked toward the documents.
Then answered.
“Graham Voss.”
I stared.
The name seemed to hang in the room.
I remembered his smiling photographs.