Chapter 7 - The Interrogation Under Fluorescent Light
At 3:00 AM, inside Interrogation Room 1 at the Metro Police Headquarters, Vivienne Sterling and Margaret Sterling sat at the metal table under the harsh glare of fluorescent lamps.
Vivienne’s makeup was ruined with mascara streaks, her silk blouse stained with coffee from her rushed arrest, her wrists secured in heavy steel handcuffs.
Across the table sat Senior Detective Marcus Stone and Assistant District Attorney Karen Hayes.
Detective Stone opened the evidence folder, laying the seven confiscated letters from the walnut cabinet onto the metal table, followed by the photographs of the locked attic room.
“Vivienne,” ADA Hayes spoke, her voice sharp as a scalpel. “Your digital servers were mirrored two hours ago. We have the text messages between you and your mother from three weeks ago.”
ADA Hayes read from the certified transcript:
Vivienne (July 14): ‘The child won't stop coughing in the bedroom. I put her in the attic so her noise won't wake the neighbors.’
Margaret (July 14): ‘Make sure she cleans the baseboards tomorrow before you give her that expensive puffer. If she learns obedience, Daniel will never suspect a thing.’
Vivienne shrieked, slamming her cuffed hands against the table, hyperventilating in sheer panic.
“It was my mother!” Vivienne wailed, pointing a trembling, manicured finger at Margaret. “My mother told me Daniel was too soft on the girl! My mother needed the money for her mortgage! I only did what she told me!”
“You unnatural, lying viper!” Margaret screamed back, lunging across the table at her daughter before two deputies pinned both women back into their chairs.
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ADA Hayes stood up, sliding two fifty-page federal indictments across the steel table.
“Save your arguments for the state penitentiary,” ADA Hayes said coldly. “You are both charged with Attempted Murder by Depraved Indifference, Aggravated Child Abuse, Kidnapping, and Multi-Million-Dollar Trust Embezzlement.”
