Little Girl Claims Her Missing Dad Lives Beneath Floorboards

Two hours later, Sarah arrived at the city police station headquarters.

Richard sat in an interrogation room behind a heavy metal door.

His high-priced defense attorney sat beside him holding a leather briefcase.

Attorney: My client has nothing to say without a formal plea deal.

Sarah set the thick blue evidence folder firmly on the metal table.

Sarah: We found your client's fingerprints on the hydraulic floor lock.

Sarah: We also recovered the stolen trust fund bank transfers from his computer.

Richard shifted uncomfortably in his hard metal chair.

Richard: David agreed to stay down there to hide from his personal debts.

Sarah: Do not lie to me, Richard.

Sarah: We found the handwritten distress messages David carved into the concrete wall.

The defense attorney looked over at Richard with a sudden surprised expression.

Attorney: You told me he was hiding voluntarily.

Sarah: He was starving in the dark while you spent his daughter's inheritance.

Sarah pulled out copies of the forged life insurance application papers.

Sarah: You took out a two-million-dollar policy on David's life last month.

Sarah: You were planning to finish him off once the final estate paperwork cleared.

Richard's face drained of all color as the facts stacked against him.

Richard: I was facing foreclosure on all my luxury properties.

Richard: I needed that money to save my business portfolio.

Sarah: You traded a man's life to pay off your bad debts.

Attorney: We are done talking for today, officer.

Sarah stood up and gathered her case files off the metal table.

Sarah: You will be facing life in prison without parole, Richard.

She stepped out into the bright hallway where Mark was waiting.

Mark: The prosecutor just reviewed the physical scanner evidence.

Mark: They are filing full kidnapping and attempted murder charges immediately.

Sarah: How is David doing at the hospital?

Mark: Doctors say he is hydrated and recovering quickly alongside his family.

Sarah: Let's go visit them before our shift ends.

They walked out of the station into the warm afternoon sunshine.

The dark shadow hanging over the young family was finally gone forever.