Chapter One: Prologue

"All this evidence. All these years. You ever think you've had enough?" Sara implored, catching Greg's eyes after gazing around the warehouse at the shelves upon shelves of boxes.

"Are you kidding? I'm just getting started." Greg smiled and turned to leave, gesturing for her to follow.

Nevada v. Adams and Adams: Witness Testimonies, Day One

Ten years ago

"Please state your full name and profession."

Sara cleared her throat, "Sara Sidle. I'm a Crime Scene Investigator."

"Thank you, Miss Sidle." The prosecutor for the state, Nathan Phelps, paced the short span of floor between the witness stand and the jurors' seats. Sara suspected that 'Dramatic Pauses 101' was a class prerequisite to becoming a lawyer. Nathan was certainly talented at them, both inside and outside of the courtroom.

"And now, can you tell me how you came to know to the defendants?" Phelps prompted.

"I was the lead investigator in the Thomas O'Bryan murder case. The defendants were some of the first people we questioned regarding his death. Several of O'Bryan's friends named them as potential suspects."

"Okay. What was your first impression of the O'Bryan case."

"August twenty-first of this year, my assignment when I arrived on shift was to investigate a presumed suicide at twelve-thirteen Fremont Street. The house was neat and orderly, and at first glance nothing was out of place. The bathroom was where the victim was found." It was Sara's turn to pause. She always hated describing a crime scene in a trial.

"In what position was Mr. O'Bryan found, both when he was first discovered by his friend and when you arrived on the scene?" the prosecutor continued gently. He knew this part was hard for her.

"Mr. O'Bryan was originally found by his friend around three days since he was last heard from. He was hanging from the showerhead—the hosing had fashioned a noose around his neck. His friend had cut him down and attempted to resuscitate him, but Thomas O'Bryan had already been dead for six hours. When I arrived on the scene, O'Bryan's body was lying face-up on the tile just outside of the shower."

"What was the condition of his body?"

Narrowing her eyes slightly but somehow able to stop herself from saying 'Dead?' sarcastically because the guy was asking the most detailed, difficult questions, Sara paused to contemplate the best way of translating what she had seen into words. She never rehearsed before trials, although she knew she should. She had to stop herself from rolling her eyes when she spotted Greg standing in the back of the room waiting for his own turn on the witness stand. He grinned, gave her a thumbs up, and mouthed 'you're doing awesome'.

Barely missing a beat, Sara turned back to Phelps. "He was naked except for his underwear. His skin was almost completely covered by cuts, burns, and bruises. Several different lines and scrapes around his neck indicated multiple strangling and garroting incidents. Some of his injuries showed signs of beginning to heal, but others appeared fresher. As Doctor Robbins already testified, O'Bryan's body displayed all the classic signs that he died from asphyxiation: blue skin pigment, petechial hemorrhaging of the vessels in his eyes and face, and completely dilated pupils."

"In your opinion, Miss Sidle, was this a death that resulted from a suicide?"

"Absolutely not. Furthermore, the bathroom is not where this crime took place. The lack of blood and other fluids on the scene indicated to us that he died somewhere else."

"Did you eventually find the location that you believe Thomas O'Bryan was kept and killed?"

"Yes. The girls had a type of dungeon, or chamber set up in their basement. In that room, we found O'Bryan's DNA in abundance—along with ropes and chains used to bind him and several other torture implements."

Phelps glanced to the jury. "That sounds like a literal hell."

Sara nodded. "It was Thomas O'Bryan's hell, for about seventy-two hours."

A/N: Thanks for reading! This is a new upload to FFN but has been published on other sites. It is still in progress, and suggestions/comments are always appreciated!