He admitted telling Ryan that “a woman in procurement was causing
trouble.”
He denied knowing my route home.
Ryan eventually changed parts of his story.
Through counsel, he admitted he had been following my vehicle.
Not to hurt me, he claimed.
To talk.
“Talk about what?”
The audit.
Thomas had asked him to persuade me to delay reporting until invoice
errors could be “sorted out.”
Ryan said he followed too closely.
Rain intensified.
I braked entering curve.
He swerved.
He believed his truck might have clipped rear corner of my car.
He panicked.
He stopped farther up.
Then saw Daniel.
He left.
That confession did not automatically establish every criminal element.
Prosecutors evaluated evidence.
Accident reconstruction using photographs and surviving vehicle records
supported possibility of contact but could not establish every detail
with certainty.
Still, Ryan’s admission materially changed case.
Then USB.
“Where is it?” investigators asked.
Ryan claimed he threw it away.
