Chapter 3 - THE HOUSE HAD BEEN LISTENING
Two hours before the fall, Vanessa had stood alone beside the staircase speaking on the phone.
The hidden microphone caught every word.
“Tonight,” she had said. “After Elena is gone, Daniel won't have a choice.”
A man's voice answered through the speaker.
“What if she doesn't leave?”
Vanessa smiled.
“She will.”
“And the baby?”
A pause.
Then Vanessa said:
“That problem solves itself if she falls hard enough.”
Margaret Howard sat down.
Her face went white.
“No.”
Vanessa lunged toward the laptop.
An officer blocked her.
“That's edited!”
Ruiz remained calm.
“The original encrypted file has already been mirrored to an independent server.”
Vanessa looked toward Elena.
“You've been recording private conversations?”
“Only common areas of my own home.”
“Your home?”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“That's what this is about, isn't it?”
Elena frowned.
Vanessa continued.
“You think marrying Daniel made this yours.”
Margaret stood.
“Elena is Daniel's wife.”
“For now.”
The words escaped too quickly.
Ruiz caught them.
“So you expected that to change?”
Vanessa realized her mistake.
“I want an attorney.”
“That's your right.”
Ruiz signaled to the officers.
But Elena stopped him.
“There's more.”
Vanessa's expression changed again.
Elena walked toward Daniel's study.
“Three weeks ago, someone placed Margaret's bracelet in my purse.”
Margaret nodded.
“I remember.”
“I had already installed the replacement cameras.”
She opened the laptop to another recording.
Vanessa entered Elena's bedroom.
Opened a drawer.
Removed the bracelet from her pocket.
Placed it beneath a scarf.
Margaret covered her mouth.
Vanessa looked away.
Another video.
Vanessa entering Daniel's study.
Photographing financial documents.
Another.
Vanessa taking Elena's prenatal vitamin bottle from the kitchen cabinet.
Opening it.
Removing capsules.
Replacing them with something from a plastic bag.
Daniel wasn't home to see any of this.
That mattered.
He had left Dallas two days earlier for a business acquisition meeting in Denver.
Elena had deliberately not called him.
Not yet.
Because the most painful question remained unanswered.
Was Vanessa acting alone?
Elena wanted the answer before Daniel could influence the investigation, intentionally or otherwise.
Ruiz looked toward the evidence technician.
“Medication?”
“Already collected.”
The capsules had been sent for emergency laboratory analysis that morning after Elena secretly swapped the bottle.
Results were pending.
Vanessa stared at her.
“You knew?”
“For eleven days.”
“And you kept taking them?”
“No.”
Vanessa's mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
“You watched me every morning,” Elena said. “You watched me swallow them.”
“I was making sure you took your vitamins.”
“You were making sure I swallowed whatever you put inside.”
Margaret turned toward Vanessa.
“What was in them?”
“I don't know what she's talking about.”
Elena's voice remained calm.
“You don't have to tell us.”
She looked toward Ruiz.
“The lab will.”
For the first time, Vanessa seemed genuinely frightened.
Then the mansion doors opened again.
Daniel Howard walked inside.
He was supposed to be in Denver.
Vanessa looked relieved.
“Elena has lost her mind.”
Daniel didn't even look at her.
He walked directly to his wife.
His eyes dropped to Elena's abdomen.
“Are you hurt?”
“Bruised.”
“The baby?”
“The paramedics found a strong heartbeat, but I'm going to the hospital for monitoring.”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
Then he looked toward the staircase.
Toward the laptop.
Toward Vanessa.
“You pushed her?”
Vanessa began crying.
“Daniel, she's been manipulating everyone.”
“Did you push my wife?”
“She trapped me!”
Daniel's expression changed.
Elena had seen him angry before.
Never like this.
But he didn't shout.
Instead, he turned toward Ruiz.
“Do whatever the law allows.”
Vanessa stared at him.
“Daniel?”
He finally looked at her.
“You're done.”
She laughed shakily.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand enough.”
“No, you don't.”
Then Vanessa said something that changed the investigation completely.
“You should ask your wife why your father changed his will three weeks before he died.”
Daniel froze.
So did Margaret.
Elena stared at Vanessa.
“What will?”
Vanessa smiled through her tears.
“You really don't know?”
Nobody answered.
May you like
Vanessa looked at Daniel.
“Your father left Elena the house.”
