Chapter 5 - The Search for Proof
With Chloe’s formal statement and the hallway video footage, Detective Reyes secured an emergency search warrant for Arthur Higgins’ home and his office at Oak Creek Elementary. However, physical evidence was crucial. A bruise on a child's neck, while compelling, needed to be backed up by indisputable forensic proof to ensure Higgins couldn't slip through the legal system's cracks.
That night, officers raided Higgins' house in a quiet suburban neighborhood. I stayed at the station, unable to sleep, unable to rest, waiting for news.
Around 2:00 a.m., Reyes walked into the waiting room, holding a clear evidence bag.
"We found something," Reyes said, sitting down across from me.
"What is it?"
"Inside Higgins' locker in the staff lounge at the school, we found a small digital voice recorder. It seems Mr. Higgins had a sick habit of recording his interactions with the children—specifically, when he disciplined them."
My stomach turned. "Did he... did he record Friday?"
Reyes nodded heavily. "Our audio technicians played it back. He didn't just threaten her, Sarah. He spoke directly into the microphone before she arrived, complaining about her, calling her 'distracting' and 'difficult.' And then... the audio captures the entire assault. It captures him threatening her with her father's death. It captures her gasping for air."
I covered my mouth with both hands, letting out a ragged sob. It was sickening, horrifying beyond words, but it was also the nail in his coffin. He couldn't claim it was a misunderstanding. He couldn't claim she fell on the playground. He had documented his own monstrous crime.
"Where is he?" I choked out, my eyes burning with fury. "Is he in custody?"
"Not yet," Reyes admitted, his jaw tightening. "When officers arrived at his house tonight, his car was gone. He didn't show up for his evening bowling league. He knows something is up. The moment the school nurse called the police earlier today, word likely got around the staff. He went on the run."
Fear spiked through my chest again. "He's out there? What if he comes after us? What if he tries to make good on his threat?"
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"We have units stationed outside your house and your sister's house," Reyes assured me, placing a comforting hand on the table. "He isn't going to get near you or Chloe. We've issued a statewide BOLO—Be On the Lookout—for his vehicle. He has nowhere to hide."
But as I sat in that cold police station, looking out the window into the pitch-black night, I knew I couldn't truly breathe again until Arthur Higgins was behind bars.
