Officer Miller: I need you both to come down to the station to give a formal statement. This isn't just an animal encounter anymore—this is an active crime scene.
Sarah: Who would do something so evil? Children play here every single afternoon!
Mark: Officer, let me look at that label. I work in logistics and commercial shipping. I might recognize the distributor code.
Officer Miller tilted the plastic container carefully using his gloved hands, allowing Mark to inspect the printed barcode.
Mark: That's a regional courier tag from Apex Legal Express. My brother-in-law works for them as an executive manager.
Sarah: Mark... Richard works for Apex? Why would his company's packaging be here?
Mark: Richard has been trying to force us to sign over our late father's real estate estate for six months. He's deep in debt with some very dangerous people.
Sarah: You don't think... no, he wouldn't hurt Lily! She's his own niece!
Mark: Richard knew we bring Lily to this exact park every Friday at three o'clock. He mentioned it at dinner last week!
Officer Miller: We aren't going to guess. We're going to pull the security camera footage from the park entrance immediately.
They walked toward the police cruiser, where K-9 Duke was sitting calmly in the air-conditioned back seat, panting happily.
Lily: Can I pet the hero doggie, Officer?
Officer Miller: You sure can, sweetie. Duke loves gentle pets.
Lily reached out her small hand, burying her fingers in the dog's thick fur as Duke gave her a warm, reassuring lick on the cheek.
Leave a Comment