Chapter 34

Contains spoilers

Overview

Bob Miller is questioned by Sheriff Marcus Hudson and Chief Deputy Pam Olson about missing stylist Carissa Brooks and missing woman Stacy Howard. Investigators reveal a ransacked salon with blood, Stacy’s car containing Bob’s business card and phone records showing Stacy tried to extort Bob. With his lawyer Brad Watson present, Bob denies wrongdoing, offers limited details, and nearly accuses his wife Sarah Morgan of framing him before Brad shuts him down.

Summary

Bob Miller arrives at the station and refuses to speak without his lawyer, Brad Watson. Sheriff Marcus Hudson and Chief Deputy Pam Olson begin questioning him about hairstylist Carissa Brooks. Bob acknowledges Carissa cut his hair Sunday night around 8:00 p.m., leaving between 9:15 and 9:30 p.m., and denies any argument or intimacy with her.

Hudson and Olson disclose that Carissa’s salon was found ransacked with blood present, and her purse, phone, and car left behind. They stress that Bob was her last appointment. They also tie this to Stacy Howard’s disappearance and note that Bob was the last known contact with both women, to which Brad objects.

Olson reveals Stacy’s abandoned car contained Bob’s business card and her phone, and that messages were exchanged with a contact labeled “Bob Miller.” While the registration for that contact is pending, Olson produces a separate text exchange from weeks earlier between Stacy and a phone number registered to Bob, showing Stacy tried to extort him and mocked him after he called her names. Olson calls the evidence damning; Brad calls it circumstantial.

Hudson mentions blood on Stacy’s steering wheel and pending forensic tests from both scenes. He points out a fresh cut on Bob’s neck; Bob explains Carissa nicked him while shaving, and says Carissa seemed paranoid that night, locking the door and re-locking it, which he suggests caused the cut.

Hudson probes whether Bob owns a burner phone. Brad ends the session when Hudson says Bob’s DNA is at a crime scene, noting it would be expected from a haircut but ignoring the blood concern. As they leave, Bob mutters that the situation is “what Sarah wants,” prompting confusion from Hudson and Olson before Brad hustles him out.

Outside, Brad reprimands Bob for implying Sarah is framing him without proof and warns the optics make Bob look paranoid. Bob insists Sarah is behind it but cannot explain how. Brad advises Bob to lay low and avoid the investigation; Bob reveals he has “eyes on” Sarah and placed a tracker on her car, which Brad says could devastate Bob’s custody case if discovered.

Brad presses Bob about a “smoking gun” Bob previously mentioned that would secure custody of Summer. Bob says it directly implicates Sarah and has broader consequences, and concludes by telling Brad it’s better if he shows him.

Who Appears

  • Bob Miller
    attorney and prime suspect in Stacy Howard’s and Carissa Brooks’s disappearances; questioned by police; reveals prior extortion texts with Stacy; admits Carissa nicked his neck; claims Sarah is setting him up; placed a tracker on Sarah’s car; hints at a “smoking gun.”
  • Brad Watson
    Bob’s defense attorney; challenges investigators; stops Bob from accusing Sarah; warns Bob about optics and the tracker; asks about the “smoking gun.”
  • Sheriff Marcus Hudson
    investigator; confronts Bob with ransacked salon, blood evidence, Stacy’s car contents, and texts; asks about burner phones; highlights Bob’s neck cut.
  • Chief Deputy Pam Olson
    investigator; presents Stacy’s text exchange with Bob; notes DNA testing from both scenes; questions Bob about Carissa’s behavior and Stacy’s messages.
  • Carissa Brooks
    hairstylist; missing; salon found ransacked with blood; last saw Bob during his appointment; reportedly seemed paranoid that night.
  • Stacy Howard
    missing woman; her car contained Bob’s business card and phone; weeks-old texts show she tried to extort Bob after their one-night stand.
  • Sarah Morgan
    Bob’s wife and opposing party in divorce; not present but discussed; Bob alleges she is framing him; Bob has placed a tracker on her car.
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