Chapter 11 - THE WOMAN THEY CALLED CRAZYSarah, Daniel, Clara, and Arthur escaped through the east tunnel.
The doctor remained behind with emergency responders.
By the time they reached the surface, the entire lower facility had been sealed.
News crews surrounded the tower.
Police blocked the streets.
Sarah looked out the van window.
“Why are there so many reporters?”
Arthur's face darkened.
“Eleanor called them.”
The story had changed again.
Not:
Sarah was pushed.
Not:
Eleanor attacked her.
Now:
Pregnant Vance heiress suffers psychological breakdown and threatens family.
Sarah stared at the headlines.
“They're calling me unstable.”
Daniel nodded.
“She prepared this weeks ago.”
Clara pulled out her phone.
“Look.”
A video had been released.
Sarah was shown shouting in the hospital.
Clips of her crying.
Clips of her arguing.
Clips cut together to make her look violent and irrational.
Sarah stared.
“They edited everything.”
Arthur said nothing.
Then his phone rang.
A lawyer.
“Mr. Bell?”
“Yes.”
“I represent Eleanor Vance.”
Arthur ended the call.
A second call came.
“Mr. Bell, we need to discuss your testimony.”
Arthur ended it too.
Daniel looked at him.
“They're trying to scare you.”
“They already have.”
Arthur stared at the road.
“But they failed forty years ago.”
Sarah looked at him.
“What did Eleanor do to you?”
Arthur was silent.
Then he finally answered.
“She killed my wife.”
Everyone turned.
Daniel stared.
“My father?”
“No.”
Arthur shook his head.
“Eleanor.”
“How?”
“She knew my wife had discovered the financial transfers.”
“What happened?”
“She fell from the mansion stairs.”
Sarah went cold.
“Like me.”
Arthur nodded.
“She was carrying our first child.”
Silence.
Sarah touched her stomach.
“Arthur…”
“I stayed because I needed evidence.”
Daniel looked at him.
“For forty years?”
Arthur smiled sadly.
“Yes.”
Clara stared.
“That is why you recorded her.”
Arthur nodded.
“I waited.”
Then his phone buzzed.
A message appeared.
Unknown number.
COME TO THE OLD ORCHARD ALONE.
Arthur looked at it.
Clara saw.
“Don't go.”
Arthur stood.
“I have to.”
Daniel grabbed his arm.
“No.”
Arthur smiled.
“For forty years I've waited for her to make one mistake.”
He looked toward Eleanor's mansion in the distance.
“She just made one.”
The team reached the orchard after midnight.
Arthur walked alone.
Eleanor stood beneath an old oak tree.
No guards.
No cameras.
At least none they could see.
“You came.”
Arthur stopped.
“You killed my wife.”
Eleanor smiled.
“You're still angry.”
“Forty years.”
“That's a long time to hold a grudge.”
“It isn't a grudge.”
Arthur took one step closer.
“It is a promise.”
Eleanor looked toward the road.
“Do you know why I chose Sarah?”
Arthur said nothing.
“Because she was kind.”
Eleanor's smile disappeared.
“Kind people are predictable.”
Arthur's jaw tightened.
“And Daniel?”
“Weak.”
“And Clara?”
“Dead.”
A voice came from the shadows.
“Wrong.”
Clara stepped forward.
Eleanor froze.
Daniel and Sarah emerged behind her.
For the first time in decades, Eleanor looked cornered.
Arthur smiled.
“You forgot one thing.”
“What?”
He held up a tiny recorder.
“Every confession you made tonight is live.”
Eleanor's face collapsed.
Police lights appeared in the distance.
Eleanor looked at Sarah.
Then smiled.
“You think this changes anything?”
Sarah stared.
“Yes.”
Eleanor laughed.
“Then ask your husband where he was the night Clara disappeared.”
Daniel's face went white.
Sarah turned.
“What does she mean?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Eleanor smiled wider.
Then the police arrived.
They seized the recorder.
Eleanor was handcuffed.
But before she was taken away, she whispered into Sarah's ear:
“Daniel didn't save Clara.”
Sarah froze.
Eleanor was dragged away.
Sarah slowly turned toward her husband.
“Daniel?”
He couldn't meet her eyes.
May you like
Then he whispered:
“I did something terrible.”
