Chương 5
“You spend enough time around me and you start sounding unbearable.”
She looked at him.
“Maybe you are finally noticing.”
The moment passed quickly.
Then the front doors opened.
Two investigators entered the foyer.
Neither looked dramatic.
Neither raised their voice.
That somehow made it worse.
They introduced themselves and asked for Elena.
Adrian stayed beside her.
The older investigator, a woman named Rachel Pierce, looked at him.
“Mr. Voss, we would like to speak with your wife privately.”
“No.”
Elena looked at him.
Rachel remained calm.
“Sir.”
“She can answer questions with me present.”
“That is her choice.”
Elena knew what Adrian was trying to do.
He wanted to protect her.
But protection could become another kind of cage if she allowed it.
Adrian looked at her.
“You do not have to.”
“I know.”
That mattered.
She was choosing.
Not surrendering.
Not hiding.
Choosing.
Rachel led Elena into the sitting room.
The room was decorated with antique furniture nobody ever used.
A place designed to look welcoming without encouraging anyone to stay too long.
Rachel placed a folder on the table.
“We are not accusing you of anything right now.”
Elena almost laughed.
Nobody said that unless an accusation was already nearby.
“What happened to Marcus?”
Rachel studied her.
“When did you last see him?”
“Three days ago.”
“Not last night?”
“No.”
“We have witnesses who place you at the foundation office yesterday evening.”
Elena felt the floor shift beneath her.
“I was there.”
“How long?”
“I do not remember exactly.”
“Approximately.”
“Until around six.”
Rachel wrote something down.
“Why were you there?”
“Reviewing financial records.”
“Without your husband’s knowledge.”
Elena looked up.
“I was reviewing foundation records.”
“That was not my question.”
The investigator’s tone was not cruel.
That made it harder.
“I had concerns.”
“About what?”
“Missing transfers.”
“Did Marcus Bell know?”
“Yes.”
“What did he tell you?”
Elena hesitated.
The hesitation was enough.
Rachel noticed.
“He told you something important.”
“He was trying to verify information.”
“What information?”
Elena looked toward the window.
Outside, gardeners were trimming hedges as if nothing unusual was happening.
“I do not know.”
Rachel leaned back.
“You do not know, or you do not want to say?”
Before Elena could answer, the door opened.
Adrian stepped inside.
The investigator looked at him.
“Mr. Voss.”
“I need to speak with my wife.”
“We are not finished.”
“She is done answering questions until counsel arrives.”
Elena looked at him.
He had made the decision without asking her.
The old Adrian.
The one who protected first and explained later.
Rachel closed the folder.
“That may be wise.”
She stood.
“Because there is one thing you should both know.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“What?”
“We found Marcus Bell’s car.”
Elena felt Adrian’s hand tighten.
“Where?”
Rachel looked between them.
“Three miles from the foundation office.”
“And?”
The investigator paused.
“The vehicle was unlocked.”
She reached into the folder and removed a clear evidence bag.
Inside was Marcus’s phone.
“Your wife’s number was the last outgoing call recorded on it.”
Elena stared at the evidence bag.
For a moment, she forgot how to breathe.
The phone inside looked ordinary.
A black rectangle with a cracked corner.
Something that belonged on a desk, in a pocket, beside a cup of coffee.
Not inside a plastic bag held by a stranger explaining why her life was changing.
“That is not possible,” she said.
Rachel did not react.
“Why?”
“Because I did not call him.”
The investigator looked at the notes in front of her.
“The record shows an outgoing call from Marcus Bell’s phone to your number at 9:12 p.m.”
Elena looked at Adrian.
He was not looking at her.
He was looking at the phone.
“That is different,” he said.
Rachel turned toward him.
“How?”
“Because you said outgoing.”
“Yes.”
“Meaning Marcus called her.”
“Correct.”
Elena felt a small amount of relief until she saw Adrian’s face.
He had noticed the same thing she had.
If Marcus called her, why was everyone acting like she was the last person to contact him?
Unless someone wanted that detail to sound worse than it was.
Rachel closed the folder.
“Mrs. Voss, did you answer the call?”
“I do not know.”
“You do not know?”
“I did not see it.”
“Check your phone.”
Elena reached for her purse.
Her hands felt slower than usual.
She unlocked her phone and opened the call history.
There it was.
Marcus Bell.
9:12 p.m.
Incoming call.
Duration: fourteen seconds.
The investigator looked at the screen.
Adrian stepped closer.
“Fourteen seconds.”
Rachel nodded.
“Do you remember what was said?”
Elena closed her eyes.
The memory came back suddenly.
Not as a complete conversation.
Just pieces.
The sound of the phone vibrating.
Her standing in the upstairs hallway after the party.
The noise of guests leaving below.
Marcus’s voice.
“Do not trust anyone in that house.”
Then silence.
Then the call ended.
Elena opened her eyes.
“I remember.”
Adrian looked at her.
“What did he say?”
She hesitated.
Not because she wanted to hide it.
Because saying it aloud would make it real.
“He told me not to trust anyone in this house.”
Rachel wrote it down.
“Anything else?”
“No.”
“Did he sound afraid?”
“Yes.”
“Did he say why?”
“No.”
The investigator studied her.
“And you did not report this?”
Elena looked down.
“No.”
“Why?”
Because I did not know who I could trust.
The answer stayed in her head.
She could not say it.
Not with Adrian standing beside her.
Not when part of her feared that even saying it would wound him.
“I thought he was going to explain the next day.”
Rachel nodded slowly.
“Instead, he disappeared.”
Adrian stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Rachel looked at him.
“We are not accusing her.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because you keep reacting as if we are.”
That stopped him.
The truth of it sat between them.
May you like
Adrian had built his entire life around controlling situations before they became dangerous.
But there were situations that refused to be controlled.
