Chapter 2 - The Silent Witness
The police station was a blur of fluorescent lights and hushed tones. Eric insisted on being the one to hand the photos over to the County Sheriff, a man named Miller who had gone to high school with him. Miller’s face went white as he scrolled through the images on Eric's phone.
"Eric, do you have any idea what you've walked into?" Miller asked, his voice low. "The Chun family reported their daughter missing twelve years ago. The case went cold. We thought she’d run away."
"She didn't run away," Eric said, his eyes hard. "She’s in that hole behind Myrtle Savage’s farm."
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While Miller scrambled to organize a warrant and a tactical team, Eric sat with Emma in a small interview room. A social worker was trying to talk to her, but Emma only wanted her father. The child was beginning to open up, describing the "Ritual of the Earth"—a bizarre, cult-like series of punishments Myrtle had been inflicting on children for years, claiming they were "cleansing the rot" from their souls.
Eric realized that Brenda wasn't just a negligent mother; she was a participant. The emails she had supposedly sent, the excuses, the wine-soaked stupor—it was all designed to distance her from the horrors Myrtle was committing. The betrayal cut deeper than any enemy fire he had ever faced.
