Chương 9
“So?”
Claire turned.
“So she’ll spend the rest of her life believing I destroyed him.”
“Who cares?”
“I do.”
Rachel looked genuinely angry.
Claire continued before she could interrupt.
“Not because I need her approval. Because Daniel has spent his whole life controlling what his mother knows about him. If he gets arrested before she sees the lie break, he gets to remain her victim.”
Price watched Claire carefully.
“That is not a reason to create risk.”
“I know.”
“Good.”
Claire looked at Brooks.
“I need my dress.”
“The one the hospital cut?”
“No. Rachel brought clothes.”
Rachel said, “Absolutely not.”
Claire reached for the bag.
Price stood.
“Claire.”
“I’m not going alone.”
“You’re not going.”
Claire pulled out black trousers and a blue blouse.
She stared at Rachel.
“You packed work clothes?”
“I panicked.”
“They’re mine.”
“I know.”
“You flew to another state and brought me my own clothes?”
“I stopped at your house.”
Claire froze.
Rachel’s anger disappeared.
“The police were there,” Rachel said quickly. “I didn’t go in by myself.”
Claire looked at the blouse.
It smelled faintly of her own detergent.
Home.
She nearly dropped it.
Price said, “Here’s what we can do.”
Everyone turned.
“Daniel remains at the residence. Officers have eyes on the property. Detectives are coordinating next steps. Eleanor has not been interviewed. We can bring her out separately.”
Claire shook her head.
“She won’t come.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
Rachel said, “Then let her stay.”
Claire looked at her sister.
“You don’t understand.”
“I understand that somebody tried to kill you and you’re worried about his mother’s feelings.”
“That’s not what I said.”
“It’s what you’re doing.”
Claire felt anger flare.
“You came here two hours ago.”
Rachel recoiled.
Claire regretted it immediately.
But she did not take it back.
Rachel picked up her purse.
“I’m going to get coffee.”
“There’s coffee here.”
“I want expensive coffee.”
She walked out.
Claire closed her eyes.
Price waited.
Brooks adjusted the radio cable at her shoulder.
Claire said, “I’m sorry.”
Brooks answered, “Tell your sister.”
“I will.”
Price sat again.
“Claire, what exactly do you think happens if you walk into that house?”
Claire looked at the blood pressure cuff around her arm.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s the problem.”
“No. It’s the truth.”
Price said nothing.
Claire continued.
“If Daniel sees police first, he becomes Daniel Whitmore, executive, counsel on speed dial, cooperative citizen. If he sees me first, he becomes the man who thought I was dead.”
“And that reaction is worth risking your safety?”
“No.”
“Then we agree.”
Claire looked up.
“It might be worth letting Eleanor see.”
Price exhaled.
“We do not use victims as bait.”
“I’m not asking you to.”
“You’re describing bait.”
“I’m describing walking into a room.”
“With the man you believe arranged your murder.”
“With officers behind me.”
Brooks said, “Still no.”
Claire almost smiled.
Rachel returned fifteen minutes later with three coffees.
She handed one to Claire.
“Cream, no sugar.”
Claire stared at it.
Rachel sat.
“I’m still mad.”
“I know.”
“You were right.”
“I know.”
“That was not an invitation to enjoy it.”
Claire took a sip.
Rachel looked at Price.
“If you let her do this, I’m filing complaints against everyone.”
Price said, “I have not agreed.”
“Good.”
Claire drank again.
Then Price’s phone rang.
She stepped into the hallway.
When she returned, her expression had changed.
“Voss was found.”
Claire set down the cup.
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Motel outside Annapolis. State police picked him up.”
The room went quiet.
“Did he talk?”
“Not yet.”
Claire looked toward Brooks.
“And Daniel?”
Price said, “We now have enough corroborating evidence that an arrest is likely. I can’t discuss everything with you yet.”
“Likely when?”
“Soon.”
Claire stood.
The room tilted immediately.
Brooks caught her elbow.
“Sit.”
Claire did.
She hated that her body could overrule her.
Price watched her.
“We may need you to identify some property later. Not today.”
“What about Eleanor?”
Price rubbed the bridge of her nose.
Then she said, “Daniel’s mother called 911 twenty minutes ago.”
Claire stopped breathing.
“Why?”
“She reported that her daughter-in-law was missing and said her son was behaving strangely.”
Rachel whispered, “Oh.”
Price continued.
“She told dispatch Daniel arrived last night and said you had left him. This morning she noticed scratches on his wrist and what appeared to be blood on one cuff of a shirt in his overnight bag.”
Claire stared at her.
“Blood?”
“We don’t know whose.”
“Why did she call now?”
“Apparently she asked Daniel where his watch was.”
Claire’s good eye closed.
Eleanor had noticed.
Of course she had.
The watch had been part of Daniel’s body for fifteen years.
Price said, “He told her it was being repaired.”
Claire laughed softly.
Wrong lie.
Eleanor had bought it.
She had it serviced through the same jeweler every three years.
Price continued.
“She called the jeweler.”
Rachel stared.
“His mother called the jeweler?”
Claire almost smiled.
“That is exactly what she would do.”
The watch had not been brought in.
Eleanor confronted Daniel.
He told her Claire had become paranoid.
Then he told her Claire had accused him of an affair.
Then he said the watch had been stolen from his gym locker.
Three explanations in less than ten minutes.
Eleanor went upstairs, locked herself in a bathroom, and called police.
Claire leaned back against the pillow.
Something complicated moved through her.
Relief.
Vindication.
Grief.
And, unexpectedly, pity.
Not for Daniel.
For Eleanor.
She imagined a sixty-eight-year-old woman sitting on a closed toilet lid in her own bathroom, whispering to a dispatcher because she had become afraid of her son.
Rachel said, “Now can we let police do their job?”
Claire looked at Price.
“What did Eleanor say about lunch?”
Price blinked.
“What?”
“Did she cancel it?”
“I have no idea.”
Claire laughed.
Rachel stared.
Then she laughed too.
May you like
It hurt Claire’s lip again.
For a few seconds all three women in the room were laughing at something that was not funny.
