LAUREN'S POV

“Before I left, everything was fine. There was nothing missing, nothing unusual,” I said quietly, my voice trembling slightly as the private investigator jotted notes on a pad in front of him. His pen moved with precision, The calm, analytical look on his face made me feel small and desperate in contrast. “When I got back, I made sure to scan the whole house because I thought someone had come to rob us,” I continued, my voice breaking a little, “but everything was in place.”

 For a moment, the room fell silent, filled only with the faint hum of computers and the soft tapping of keys from the...