Chapter 7
Robert was arrested before sunrise.
Vanessa and Margaret were taken into custody.
Ethan went to the hospital with a deep wound in his shoulder, but the doctors said he would recover.
I sat beside his bed until morning.
Neither of us spoke for a long time.
Finally, he said, “I should have told you everything.”
“Yes.”
“I was afraid.”
“So was I.”
“That doesn’t excuse it.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Will you ever forgive me?”
I took his hand.
“I don’t know. But I don’t want to lose my brother.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“That’s more than I deserve.”
Detective Maya Torres entered the room carrying a folder.
She had listened to the entire warehouse confrontation through my phone.
“We found enough evidence to hold Robert,” she said. “The recording will help, but his attorneys will challenge it.”
“What about the bank records?” I asked.
“They prove fraud. They don’t prove murder.”
“He confessed.”
“On a damaged recording with no verified date.”
My hope faded.
Torres placed the folder on the bed.
“There may be another problem.”
Inside was Grandma’s autopsy report.
The toxicology section showed traces of a powerful sedative.
“This wasn’t in the original report,” I said.
“It was removed from the official file.”
“By whom?”
“A medical examiner named Dr. Samuel Pierce.”
I recognized the name.
He was Robert’s closest friend.
He had also signed my parents’ death certificates.
Torres continued.
“Pierce disappeared this morning.”
Robert had prepared for failure.
Even from a jail cell, he still had people protecting him.
My phone rang.
It was Derek’s attorney.
Derek wanted to offer a complete confession in exchange for reduced charges.
“He knows where Pierce is,” the attorney said.
I left the room and visited the jail.
Derek sat behind thick glass.
A bruise covered his jaw.
For the first time since I met him, he looked small.
“You knew Grandma was drugged,” I said.
He lowered his eyes.
“I saw my mother put something in her tea.”
The room tilted.
“Margaret poisoned her?”
“She said it would only make Evelyn sleep while we searched.”
“But Grandma collapsed.”
“Yes.”
“And you both left her.”
“My mother left. I stayed and called for help.”
“After you stole from her.”
He pressed his hands against the glass.
“I did terrible things.”
“You married me afterward.”
“I was supposed to search the apartment and gain access to your accounts.”
“Was any of it real?”
His face twisted.
“I fell in love with you.”
“You don’t hit someone you love.”
“I know.”
“You don’t build a marriage on her family’s graves.”
“I know.”
His voice broke, but I felt no sympathy.
“Where is Dr. Pierce?”
“I’ll tell Torres after she signs the agreement.”
“You’re still bargaining.”
“I’m trying to survive.”
“That’s all you ever did.”
I stood.
Derek suddenly said, “Pierce has another recording.”
I stopped.
“Robert forced him to keep it as insurance. It proves my mother knew the sedative could kill Evelyn.”
“Where?”
“In a safe at his lake house.”
“Address?”
Derek gave it to me.
I walked away before he could say anything else.
Torres organized a search immediately.
But when officers reached the lake house, it was burning.
Pierce stood near the water, watching the flames.
He claimed Robert had ordered him to destroy everything.
Then an officer spotted a motorboat leaving the dock.
Margaret was driving.
She had escaped custody during a hospital examination.
A second figure sat beside her.
Vanessa.
They had chosen each other over Robert.
But Vanessa held something above her head as the boat vanished into the fog.
May you like
A small black recorder.
The last evidence that could prove who killed my grandmother.
