Chương 12
Then Andrew opened the staircase photograph.
For the first time, her expression changed.
Barely.
A tightening around the mouth.
She looked at Lucinda.
“That’s you?”
“Yes.”
“And Caroline?”
“Yes.”
“What date?”
Andrew checked the file information.
“The night she died.”
Cole’s eyes went to the top of the stairs in the photograph.
Then to the angle.
“Who took this?”
Andrew looked at Alex.
Cole followed his gaze.
Alex had gone motionless.
Elizabeth stroked the back of his head.
Andrew said quietly, “I think Alex did.”
Cole’s face softened.
“With what?”
“I don’t know.”
Lucinda whispered, “Caroline’s old phone.”
Andrew turned.
“What?”
Lucinda rubbed one thumb against the side of her finger.
“She gave him her previous phone to play games.”
Andrew stared.
“You knew?”
“I saw him with it sometimes.”
“Where is it?”
Lucinda shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Cole asked, “Was that device recovered after the death?”
Andrew looked at her.
“Not that I remember.”
Cole glanced at Bennett.
“Check the inventory from the original case when you get a chance.”
Bennett nodded.
Andrew said, “The recording is more important.”
Cole looked at him.
“It may be.”
“It includes her admitting she grabbed Caroline.”
Cole’s eyes went to Lucinda.
Lucinda closed her eyes.
Andrew continued.
“She admits Caroline fell after she grabbed her sleeve.”
Cole’s posture changed.
Not dramatically.
Enough.
“And after the fall?”
Andrew’s voice dropped.
“She said Caroline was alive.”
Cole stared at Lucinda now.
Andrew continued.
“She waited eleven minutes before calling for help.”
Bennett stopped writing for half a second.
Lucinda looked at the table.
Cole said, “Mrs. Whitmore.”
Lucinda did not respond.
“Look at me.”
Slowly, she did.
“Did you say that?”
“Yes.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
“Were you recorded saying it?”
“I don’t know.”
Andrew looked at Cole.
“We were all here.”
Cole nodded.
“That matters, but I’m asking her directly.”
Lucinda’s lips trembled.
“Yes, I said it.”
Cole’s face remained controlled.
“Did Caroline have a pulse?”
“I don’t know.”
“You said she was breathing.”
Lucinda looked at Andrew.
Cole’s voice sharpened slightly.
“Not him.”
Lucinda turned back.
“Yes.”
“You personally observed her breathing?”
“Yes.”
“And you did not call emergency services immediately?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Victor.”
Cole waited.
Lucinda swallowed.
“He told me we needed to remove documents before the police came.”
Andrew looked at her.
“That isn’t what you said.”
Lucinda frowned.
“What?”
“You said he came after the fall.”
“He did.”
“You said he checked Caroline’s pulse.”
“He did.”
“You never said you removed anything.”
Lucinda froze.
Cole noticed immediately.
“What was removed?”
Lucinda looked down.
“Mrs. Whitmore.”
Lucinda’s hands began to shake.
Cole waited.
Andrew took one step forward.
Cole held up a hand without looking at him.
He stopped.
Lucinda whispered, “A folder.”
“What was in it?”
“Copies of financial records.”
“The same records shown on this card?”
“Some.”
“What else?”
Lucinda shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Cole studied her.
“You seem to know quite a lot about what was removed for someone who doesn’t know what was in it.”
Lucinda’s breathing became shallow.
Andrew stared at her.
Cole asked, “Who physically took the folder?”
“Victor.”
“Where from?”
“Caroline’s office.”
“You went into the office after Caroline fell?”
Lucinda nodded.
“Leaving her alone?”
Lucinda’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“I don’t know.”
“You gave us eleven minutes.”
“That was before the emergency call.”
Cole’s voice went very quiet.
“That is not what I asked.”
Lucinda closed her eyes.
Andrew’s face hardened.
Cole leaned back.
“Did you and Victor move Caroline’s body?”
Lucinda’s eyes opened.
“No.”
Andrew looked at her.
Cole watched the reaction.
“Did you touch her after the fall?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I checked her.”
“Where?”
“Her neck.”
“Anything else?”
Lucinda hesitated.
Andrew’s jaw tightened.
Cole said, “Anything else?”
“I moved her hand.”
Andrew’s eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
Lucinda looked at him.
“Because she was holding something.”
The room went still again.
Cole asked, “What?”
Lucinda’s lips parted.
“A key.”
Andrew frowned.
“To what?”
“I don’t know.”
“You took it?”
“Yes.”
Andrew stood.
Lucinda flinched.
“What key?”
“I said I don’t know.”
“Where is it?”
Lucinda swallowed.
Cole’s eyes sharpened.
“Where is the key now?”
Lucinda looked toward the private office doorway.
Andrew followed her gaze.
His face changed.
“No.”
Lucinda said nothing.
Andrew crossed the room.
Cole stood.
“Mr. Whitmore.”
He stopped at the office threshold.
Cole came beside him.
“Don’t touch anything.”
Andrew pointed toward his desk.
“There’s a locked drawer Caroline never used.”
Cole looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“Because it’s my desk.”
Lucinda whispered behind them, “It wasn’t always.”
Andrew turned.
Lucinda rose slowly from the chair.
“That office belonged to your father.”
Andrew stared at her.
“He kept private records there.”
“My father died twelve years ago.”
“Yes.”
“And Caroline had his key?”
Lucinda nodded.
Andrew looked toward the old walnut desk.
One narrow drawer on the right side had a brass lock darker than the others.
He had never opened it.
He had assumed it was decorative.
Cole stepped into the doorway without crossing farther.
“Do you still have that key?”
Lucinda’s face went pale.
“No.”
Andrew stared.
“You just said you took it.”
“I did.”
“Then where is it?”
Lucinda looked at Alex.
Cole’s voice hardened.
“Do not look at the child.”
Lucinda turned back.
“I gave it to Victor.”
Andrew’s face emptied.
Cole asked, “When?”
“The night Caroline died.”
“Why?”
“Because he said whatever was in that drawer could destroy us.”
Andrew whispered, “Us.”
Lucinda closed her eyes.
Cole looked toward the desk.
Then back at Lucinda.
“What made him think Caroline knew about that drawer?”
Lucinda opened her eyes.
“Because she had already opened it.”
Andrew stared at the locked drawer as if it had been waiting twelve years for him to notice it.
Cole did not let anyone touch the desk.
She called a detective supervisor, photographed the room, and asked Bennett to start separating witnesses.
May you like
Lucinda’s attorney arrived before the detective did.
He was a gray-haired man named Marcus Bell who entered the mansion carrying a leather briefcase and the exhausted expression of someone who already knew the evening would become expensive.
