Cynthia smiled.
Daniel remained silent.
Officer Ramirez continued.
“So could yours.”
The smile disappeared.
Officer Bennett walked toward the windshield.
“Mr. Brooks, may I see the VIN?”
Daniel opened the driver's side door.
The officer compared the number to Daniel's title.
Then to Cynthia's scanned document.
The numbers were identical.
Officer Bennett looked toward Officer Ramirez.
“Same VIN.”
Daniel folded his arms.
Cynthia stared at him.
“This doesn't prove he owns it.”
Officer Bennett returned to the table.
“Mrs. Vale, can you explain how you purchased a vehicle with the same VIN that Mr. Brooks has been registering for eight years?”
Cynthia hesitated.
“I don't know.”
“Did you verify the seller?”
“He said he was a collector.”
“Did you search his business registration?”
“He sent credentials.”
“Did you independently verify them?”
Cynthia did not answer.
Officer Ramirez examined the purchase agreement.
“Do you have an address for Robert Lane?”
“Yes.”
“Phone number?”
“Yes.”
“Website?”
Cynthia showed her.
Officer Bennett entered the information into his tablet.
Daniel watched quietly.
After a minute, the officer's expression changed.
“What?” Cynthia asked.
Officer Bennett didn't answer immediately.
He entered another search.
Then another.
“Interesting.”
Cynthia became impatient.
“What is?”
Officer Bennett turned the tablet toward Officer Ramirez.
She studied the screen.
Daniel could not see it.
“Is there a problem?” Cynthia asked.
Officer Ramirez looked at her.
“Where did you find this seller?”
“An online collector forum.”
“Which forum?”
Cynthia named it.
Officer Bennett typed again.
Then he sighed.
“What?” Cynthia demanded.
The older officer looked directly at her.
“Mrs. Vale, the business address listed for Robert Lane doesn't appear to belong to a vehicle collector.”
She frowned.
“What does it belong to?”
“A mailbox rental store.”
Silence spread across the driveway.
Cynthia's face tightened.
“That doesn't mean anything.”
“No,” Officer Ramirez said. “By itself, it doesn't.”
Officer Bennett continued searching.
“The business registration number on the document you provided belongs to a different company.”
Cynthia's mouth opened slightly.
“What?”
“It belongs to an automotive parts distributor.”
“That must be a mistake.”
“Possibly.”
Officer Bennett looked again.
“But there are more.”
Cynthia's confidence began to fracture.
The phone number connected to a prepaid service.
The website had been registered less than two months earlier.
The address was a commercial mailbox.
The business license number had been copied from another company.
And the photograph of the Camaro?
Officer Bennett zoomed in.
Then he showed it to Daniel.
“Have you ever posted this photo online?”
Daniel looked.
The image showed his Camaro inside the garage.
The angle came from outside.
Daniel studied it carefully.
Then his face changed.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“About three months ago.”
“Where?”
Daniel thought.
“I posted some restoration photos on a classic-car forum.”
Officer Bennett nodded.
“Could this image have been copied?”
Daniel looked at Cynthia.
“Yes.”
Cynthia stepped back.
“No.”
Officer Ramirez spoke gently.
“Mrs. Vale, it appears possible that someone used photographs of Mr. Brooks's vehicle to sell you a car that never belonged to them.”
“No.”
“The documents also contain several inconsistencies.”
“No.”
Cynthia shook her head harder.
“I paid for that car.”
Daniel looked at her.
For the first time that morning, he did not feel angry.
He felt sorry for her.
But the feeling lasted only a moment.
Because Cynthia turned toward him.
“This is your fault.”
Daniel blinked.
“My fault?”
“You posted photographs.”
“So the person who stole eighteen thousand dollars from you is innocent because I posted a picture of my own car?”
“You could have prevented this.”
Officer Ramirez stepped between them.
“Mrs. Vale, that's enough.”
Cynthia looked stunned.
“You're taking his side?”
“No,” Elena replied. “I'm following the evidence.”
That sentence changed the atmosphere.
The neighbors stopped whispering.
Daniel leaned against the side of his garage.
Cynthia looked suddenly smaller.
Officer Bennett's tablet made a sound.
He checked the screen.
Then he looked at Officer Ramirez.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“Another report.”
Cynthia turned.
“What report?”
Officer Bennett looked directly at her.
“The same name. Robert Lane.”
Daniel straightened.
Officer Bennett continued.
“A complaint was filed in another county four days ago.”
Cynthia's face went pale.
“What kind of complaint?”
Officer Bennett did not answer immediately.
Then he said the words that changed everything.
“Vehicle fraud.”
Cynthia stared at the Camaro.
The same car she had spent the entire morning trying to take away from Daniel.
And suddenly, the truth became impossible to ignore.
She had not found the car she purchased.
She had found the photograph that had been used to steal her money.
But Officer Bennett was not finished.
He looked at the information on his tablet one more time.
Then his expression became serious.
“There may be something else.”
Officer Ramirez looked at him.
“What?”
He turned the screen toward her.
“This Robert Lane?”
Daniel and Cynthia watched the officers exchange a look.
Officer Bennett spoke quietly.
“He may not be working alone.”
By noon, the driveway at 1824 Stonebridge Lane no longer looked like the site of a simple neighborhood dispute.
Two additional officers had arrived.
The teenager across the street had finally been ordered to stop filming from the middle of the road.
Mrs. Porter had returned home, made sandwiches, and then come back outside carrying one for Daniel.
“Thank you,” he told her.
“You're going to need your strength,” she replied.
Daniel almost smiled.
Cynthia had stopped arguing.
She was sitting in a chair near the front porch, staring at her phone.
Officer Ramirez stood beside her.
“Mrs. Vale,” she said, “we need to know exactly how you found Robert Lane.”
Cynthia rubbed her forehead.
“It was a collector's website.”
“Did someone recommend him?”
“No.”
“Did he contact you?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Through the website messaging system.”
Officer Bennett looked up.
“Did you ever see him on video?”
“No.”
“Did you speak with him?”
“Yes.”
“Did his voice sound consistent?”
Cynthia looked confused.
“What do you mean?”
“Did you speak to the same person every time?”
She thought about it.
“I assumed I did.”
Officer Bennett nodded.
“Did he pressure you to pay quickly?”
Cynthia looked away.
“A little.”
“How?”
“He said another buyer was interested.”
Daniel looked at her.