Chapter 4 - The Interrogation Room
The interrogation room at the Denver Police Department was windowless, smelling faintly of stale coffee and cheap disinfectant. Under the harsh glare of the overhead metallic light, Ryan Hayes looked like a man unraveling at the seams. His designer sweater was stained with dried mud from the mountains, his hair was disheveled, and his face was mottled red from hours of hysterical crying.
The heavy metal door clicked open, and Detective Miller walked in, carrying a thick manila folder. He dropped it onto the metal table with a loud thud that made Ryan flinch.
“Mr. Hayes,” Detective Miller said, pulling out a chair and sitting down opposite him. He didn't offer a greeting. His eyes were hard, fixed on Ryan with clinical detachment.
“Have you found her body?” Ryan blurted out, his voice cracking desperately. “Please tell me where they took her! Is she at the morgue? I swear to God, I didn't know it was that bad! She said she was just having a bad period!”
Detective Miller leaned back, folding his arms across his chest. “A bad period, Mr. Hayes? Your wife suffered a catastrophic postpartum hemorrhage. According to our medical examiners and Dr. Vance, she lost over half the blood in her body while you were sipping whiskey on a balcony in Aspen.”
“I thought she was being dramatic!” Ryan sobbed, burying his face in his hands. “She always exaggerates things to keep me from having fun! My mother said childbirth is natural, women have been doing it for millennia!”
“Your mother didn't nearly bleed to death on a nursery floor,” Miller snapped, his tone sharp enough to cut glass. “Let’s talk about the timeline, Ryan. Three days ago, at 10:15 AM, your wife begged you for help. You told her to take an aspirin, called her a drama queen, and walked out the door.”
“I didn't know!”
“And at 11:30 AM, you posted a video on social media mocking your ‘high-maintenance wife’ while laughing with your friends at a luxury resort. You spent the entire weekend ignoring her calls and messages.”
Ryan shuddered, his fingers digging into his scalp. “I turned my phone on ‘Do Not Disturb’ for the trip. I wanted to disconnect! Is that a crime?”
“Abandoning a medically vulnerable postpartum woman and a newborn infant without assistance, refusing to seek emergency aid when explicitly asked, and displaying gross negligence... depending on how things played out, it could have been manslaughter,” Miller said smoothly, watching Ryan’s reaction like a hawk.
Ryan jerked his head up, his eyes wide with absolute terror. “Manslaughter? But—but she’s dead, right? That’s why you’re talking to me like this! You found her body!”
Detective Miller stared at him for a long, agonizing moment, letting the silence stretch until Ryan looked like he was about to vomit.
Slowly, the detective opened the manila folder, pulled out a single sheet of paper, and slid it across the metal table.
“Read that, Mr. Hayes.”
Ryan’s trembling hands picked up the paper. It was a formal hospital admission record, dated an hour ago.
Patient: Emma Hayes.Status: Stable, recovering in guarded care.Infant: Ethan Hayes, healthy, in NICU observation.
Ryan stared at the words, his brain struggling to process the information. The paper slipped from his fingers, fluttering down to the floor.
“She’s... she’s alive?” Ryan whispered, a bizarre mix of immense relief and sheer, unadulterated panic washing over his face. “She survived? She’s at the hospital?”
“She survived in spite of you, Mr. Hayes,” Miller said, standing up and gathering his folder. “Not because of you. And let me make one thing crystal clear: your wife’s legal representation has already contacted our precinct. You are not permitted to go to the hospital, you are not permitted to contact her, and a restraining order is currently being processed by the judge.”
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Ryan scrambled out of his chair, lunging toward the table. “Wait! I need to see her! I’m her husband! I have rights!”
Detective Miller paused at the door, turning back with a cold, unforgiving smile. “Mr. Hayes, the only thing you have right now is a very big problem.”
