Richard Accused a Mechanic of Scratching His Car — Then the Garage Cameras Showed the Damage Was Already There Before She Touched It
Chapter 5 — A Witness Saw the Damage Before the Garage
The driver’s name was Carlos.
He explained that Richard’s silver sedan had been directly in front of his truck for part of the route.
At one traffic light, the vehicles ended up in adjacent lanes.
Carlos noticed the scratch because sunlight reflected across it.
“I remember thinking somebody keyed that door.”
Richard looked toward him.
“You’re sure it was my car?”
Carlos pointed toward the dashcam footage.
“Same plate.”
Mark enlarged the image.
The license plate matched Richard’s vehicle.
Richard’s confidence had now almost completely disappeared.
But his anger remained.
He looked toward Sarah.
“Fine.”
“Maybe you didn’t do it.”
Sarah stared at him.
“Maybe?”
Richard looked away.
Mark said:
“The footage shows the scratch before the car arrived.”
“Sarah cannot have caused damage that was already there.”
Richard became defensive again.
“I said fine.”
Sarah looked toward him.
“You walked into my workplace yelling that I damaged your car.”
“You said I was lying.”
“You did that in front of everyone here.”
Richard’s face tightened.
“I was angry.”
Sarah answered:
“I noticed.”
Mark stepped in before the argument escalated.
“We have established Sarah didn’t cause the scratch.”
“Now the question is what happened before Richard arrived.”
Richard shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Mark looked toward him.
“Where was the car last night?”
“At home.”
“Garage?”
Richard hesitated.
“Driveway.”
“Anyone else drive it?”
“My wife used it yesterday afternoon.”
Richard’s expression suddenly changed.
Then he reached for his phone.
Sarah noticed immediately.
“You just remembered something.”
Richard said nothing.
He opened a message thread from the previous night.
And one unread photograph had been sitting there the entire time.
