The screen went black.
Nobody spoke.
Finally, Detective Ruiz said quietly:
“There is more.”
I turned.
“What?”
“The file continues.”
She clicked another video.
This one was shorter.
Only ten seconds.
The camera showed my grandmother’s desk.
Empty.
Then a hand entered the frame.
A woman’s hand.
Holding a document.
The woman placed the paper on the desk.
Then she whispered:
“I’m sorry, Charlotte.”
The recording ended.
I stared.
“Who was that?”
Ruiz looked at me.
“We don’t know.”
“But you know the voice.”
She hesitated.
“I believe you do.”
I felt the answer before she said it.
“No.”
Priya looked at me carefully.
“Charlotte…”
“No.”
Because if I said it out loud, it would become real.
But then Detective Ruiz spoke.
“The voice analysis is not complete.”
She paused.
“But the preliminary match suggests the woman is your mother.”
I did not sleep.
Not because I was angry.
