Stone and Dino followed Ash and Sara out.
When they reached the elevators, Dino said to Sara, “Do you feel up to answering a few questions about what happened?”
“I think so.”
“How about we go to the cafeteria?” Stone suggested. “I don’t know about any of you, but I could use a coffee.”
Several minutes later, they were settled at a table, coffees in front of each of them.
“Where would you like me to start?” Sara asked.
“I always find the beginning to be the best place,” Dino said.
She took a moment to gather her thoughts, then said, “Like I told Uncle Jack, Mitch had the day off, and we wanted to go out for dinner. I’ve driven Aunt Hillary around before, so it wasn’t a big deal to do so again.”
“Did the accident happen before or after dinner?”
“After. Aunt Hillary got us in at Monkey Bar. I’d never been there before, so I was really excited.”
“Nice choice,” Stone said.
“It was even better than I expected.”
“After you finished eating, did you head home?” Dino asked. “Or were you headed somewhere else?”
“Home. We were maybe ten minutes away when something popped under the car, and suddenly both pedals stopped working.”
“Both gas and brakes?”
She nodded.
“Did the car slow?”
“Quite the opposite. It was like the accelerator was pressed to the floor.”
“Could you steer?”
“At first, but all I was doing was trying not to run into anyone.”
“What do you mean ‘at first’?”
“It couldn’t have been more than half a minute later when we heard another pop and the car jerked to the left. The next thing I knew, I was in an ambulance.”
Ash said, “When the detectives came here to interview her, they told us the car rolled at least twice down the middle of the road before coming to rest on its roof.”
“Because the car hit something?” Stone asked.
Ash shook his head. “According to witnesses, there were no other cars involved.”
Sara put her face in her hands. “See. Itisall my fault.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Stone said. “It sounds to me like you experienced multiple mechanical failures that were out of your control.”
“Even so, if I’d been a better driver, we wouldn’t have crashed.”
“Given that you lost the ability to control the vehicle, even if you were the reigning Formula One champion, you wouldn’t have been able to do anything.”
“I agree with Stone,” Dino agreed. “Did you tell the detectives everything you told us?”
