Chương 10
Her first instinct was to call Daniel.
Her second was better.
She called Ortiz.
The receipt changed everything because of one detail that had never been public.
Natalie had a deep cut on her left palm.
Police had believed it occurred around the time of death.
Daniel had told investigators he was home with his father that evening.
His father, heavily medicated, had supported the alibi.
But a pharmacy security archive still existed through corporate storage.
The footage was poor.
The person buying the supplies wore a cap and rain jacket.
Daniel.
Claire watched the video in Ortiz’s office.
Her stomach turned cold.
“What did he tell you when confronted?”
Ortiz looked tired.
“He said Natalie cut her hand at the office earlier that evening.”
“And?”
“He drove to buy supplies.”
“Why lie?”
“He says because he knew he would become the primary suspect.”
Claire stared at the frozen image of Daniel at the register.
“Was Natalie alive at nine seventeen?”
“We don’t know.”
“But estimated death was before nine.”
“Estimates have ranges.”
Claire looked at her.
“You narrowed it.”
“Yes.”
“To seven to nine.”
“Yes.”
“So either Daniel bought gauze for a dead woman—”
“Or our estimate was wrong.”
“Or he was covering something.”
“Yes.”
Claire pressed her hands together.
The detective said, “Do not confront him.”
Claire laughed without humor.
“I’m developing a reputation.”
“Develop a better one.”
Claire went home.
Not the apartment with Ethan.
The rental.
She locked the door.
Daniel called at 6:03.
She did not answer.
Again at 6:11.
Then a text.
Ortiz talked to me.
Claire stared.
Another message.
You found the receipt.
She replied.
Yes.
Daniel:
Can I explain?
Claire:
To police.
Daniel:
I did.
Claire:
Then you’re done explaining.
He called again.
She silenced the phone.
At 8:30, someone knocked.
Claire froze.
Another knock.
“Claire.”
Daniel.
She moved toward the door but did not open it.
“You need to leave.”
“I just want two minutes.”
“No.”
“I lied about the pharmacy.”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t kill her.”
“You’ve heard how that sentence works in this story.”
Silence outside.
Daniel said, “She was alive when I left.”
Claire leaned against the wall beside the door.
“What happened?”
“She came to the office.”
“When?”
“About eight fifteen.”
“Why?”
“She’d been gone most of the day. We’d fought that morning.”
“About the money?”
“Yes.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“She confessed to you.”
“Part of it.”
“What part?”
“That she had moved money without telling me. She said it started when the company was failing.”
“And Rebecca?”
“She mentioned her.”
“Paul?”
“Yes.”
“What did you do?”
“I lost it.”
Claire said nothing.
“I called her a thief.”
Daniel’s voice was low through the door.
“I told her my father had put his retirement into that company. I told her she’d stolen from him. She said she was trying to protect us.”
“What happened to her hand?”
“She grabbed papers off my desk. I grabbed them back. A metal file edge cut her.”
“Did you hit her?”
“No.”
“Did you push her?”
Daniel paused.
Claire’s throat tightened.
“Daniel.”
“She pushed me first.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“I pushed her away.”
“How hard?”
“She fell against a desk.”
Claire opened her eyes.
“Did she hit her head?”
“No.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because she stood back up and told me she hated me.”
Claire looked down.
“She left?”
“Not immediately.”
“What happened?”
“She said Rebecca had threatened her. Said if Natalie went to police, Rebecca would tell everyone Natalie started the fraud.”
“What did you say?”
“I told her to go to police anyway.”
“And?”
“She said I didn’t understand what it would do to us.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
Daniel’s voice cracked.
“I told her there was no us.”
Claire felt something close around her chest.
“You told her your marriage was over.”
“Yes.”
“What time?”
“Around eight fifty.”
“Then you went to the pharmacy.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she was bleeding.”
“But she left.”
“She said she was coming back.”
“Did she?”
“No.”
“Where did she go?”
“I don’t know.”
“You told police you were home.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because by the time I knew she was missing, I understood how it looked.”
Claire almost opened the door.
Then stopped herself.
“You let your dying father lie for you.”
“He thought I was home.”
“What?”
“I came home after the pharmacy. He was asleep. When police asked if I’d been there all night, he said yes because he assumed I had.”
“And you let it stand.”
“Yes.”
Claire shut her eyes.
“How are you different from Ethan?”
Silence.
Then Daniel said, “I’m not.”
That answer hurt more than defense.
Claire stood with her hand near the lock.
Daniel continued.
“We were all protecting ourselves. Ethan hid the ring because he didn’t want the affair exposed. I lied because I didn’t want to look like the husband who fought with her before she disappeared. Paul lied because of the money. Rebecca lied because—God knows. Natalie lied because she was trying to keep the company alive and then couldn’t stop.”
Claire whispered, “And now she’s dead.”
“Yes.”
“Go home, Daniel.”
“Claire.”
“Please.”
After a moment, his footsteps moved away.
Two days later, Daniel was arrested.
Not for murder.
For making false statements during the original investigation.
He was released pending further proceedings.
Public opinion turned instantly, which meant it did not turn meaningfully at all.
People who had spent months defending Daniel now called him a killer.
People who had called Ethan a killer now called him a victim.
Claire had learned enough to distrust anyone who changed certainty faster than facts.
Then forensic analysis found blood in Rebecca Sloan’s former storage unit.
Natalie’s blood.
A small amount on a plastic tarp.
Rebecca said Natalie had injured her hand there days earlier.
Cell tower records contradicted her.
Natalie’s phone connected near the storage facility the night she died.
So did Rebecca’s.
Paul’s did not.
Daniel’s did not.
Ethan’s did not.
May you like
The case narrowed.
Rebecca’s lawyer argued that location data was imprecise.
