CHAPTER 4 The Man Who Couldn't Remember
The greenhouse fell silent.
Even the rain seemed to stop.
Vanessa's words hung in the air like poison.
"Ask Richard who really killed Claire."
Every pair of eyes turned toward Richard Howard.
His expression was blank.
Not defensive.
Not angry.
Just... confused.
Ruiz studied him carefully.
This wasn't the face of a man caught in a lie.
It was the face of someone trying to remember something that refused to be remembered.
"Richard," Ruiz said quietly, "did you see Claire the night she disappeared?"
Richard opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
His mind was suddenly flooded with fragments.
A ringing phone.
A woman crying.
Rain.
Headlights cutting through darkness.
A red silk scarf.
Then...
Nothing.
He pressed a hand against his temple.
"I..."
"I don't know."
Vanessa laughed again.
"See? Even he doesn't know."
Ruiz didn't react.
Instead, he took Claire's leather diary from the evidence bag and carefully turned another page.
The ink had faded slightly, but the words remained clear.
March 17
Richard has been acting strangely.
Sometimes he looks at me like he knows me.
Other times he doesn't even remember conversations we had the day before.Vanessa keeps telling everyone he's just stressed.
I don't believe her anymore.
Richard stared at the page.
"No..."
Ruiz continued reading.
March 22
I found medicine in Richard's office.
The labels had been removed.
When I asked Vanessa about them...
She smiled.
Richard frowned.
"Medicine?"
Mrs. Howard looked up sharply.
"What medicine?"
No one answered.
At St. Vincent Medical Center...
Elena lay awake in the recovery room.
The anesthesia was wearing off.
Every muscle in her body screamed in pain.
A soft knock came at the door.
Detective Ruiz's partner, Officer Daniel Brooks, stepped inside.
He carried a small bouquet of white lilies.
"The detective asked me to stay with you."
Elena smiled weakly.
"How bad is it?"
Brooks hesitated.
"The surgery went well."
"The baby is stable."
"But..."
"They've started searching the mansion."
Elena nodded.
"They found the greenhouse."
Brooks blinked.
"You already knew?"
"I buried that box."
He stared at her in disbelief.
"You... what?"
Elena looked toward the window.
"I buried it."
"But I wasn't the one who filled it."
Back at the mansion...
Crime scene technicians carried the steel box into the library.
Each item was cataloged.
Photographed.
Sealed.
Then one technician frowned.
"Detective."
Ruiz looked over.
"What is it?"
"There's a false bottom."
The room froze.
The technician carefully pried the metal lining loose.
Hidden beneath it was a single envelope.
Yellowed with age.
Its seal had never been broken.
Across the front, elegant handwriting read:
For Richard Only
Richard slowly reached toward it.
Ruiz hesitated.
Then nodded.
"It's addressed to you."
Richard broke the seal with trembling fingers.
Inside was one folded letter.
And a photograph.
The photograph fell first.
It landed face-up on the table.
Mrs. Howard gasped.
Richard felt the blood drain from his face.
The picture showed Claire.
She was pregnant.
Very pregnant.
Standing beside Richard.
His hand rested gently on her stomach.
Neither of them remembered the photograph being taken.
Vanessa's smile vanished.
Richard unfolded the letter.
His hands shook so violently he could barely read.
Richard,
If you're reading this...
Then I was right.
Something happened to me.
And someone will convince you that it was your fault.
Richard's breathing became uneven.
Ruiz quietly motioned for everyone else to remain silent.
Richard continued.
I know you've been forgetting things.
I know someone has been giving you drugs.
You keep apologizing for arguments you don't remember having.
That's not like you.
Richard whispered,
"...No..."
The next paragraph hit even harder.
If I disappear...
Don't blame yourself.
Find Elena.
She is the only person I've ever trusted.
She promised she'd protect our child.
Richard stopped reading.
"Our..."
He looked down at the photograph again.
"Our child?"
Ruiz slowly closed the diary.
"We confirmed it yesterday."
Richard looked up.
"What?"
Ruiz answered quietly.
"Claire was eight weeks pregnant when she died."
The room spun.
Richard grabbed the edge of the table to remain standing.
"I..."
"I never knew."
"No."
Ruiz replied.
"You were never supposed to."
Miles away...
A black luxury sedan sat beneath an abandoned warehouse.
Inside, an elderly man watched a live security feed from the Howard mansion.
More than thirty camera angles covered every room.
He smiled.
"So..."
"It finally begins."
A younger man beside him frowned.
"They found the greenhouse."
"I know."
"They found Claire's diary."
"I know."
"They're getting closer."
The old man chuckled.
"They're still looking at the wrong player."
He reached for a glass of whiskey.
"They think Vanessa is the mastermind."
He smiled wider.
"Poor Vanessa."
"She still believes she was making her own decisions."
At the hospital...
Brooks frowned.
"You said you buried the evidence."
Elena nodded.
"Because Claire asked me to."
Brooks stared.
"But Claire died three years ago."
Elena looked directly into his eyes.
"No."
"Claire visited me."
"The night before she disappeared."
Brooks felt a chill run through him.
"What did she say?"
Elena closed her eyes, remembering.
Flashback...
A frightened Claire stood outside Elena's apartment in the pouring rain.
She held a steel box in one hand.
Tears streamed down her face.
"If anything happens to me..."
She shoved the box into Elena's arms.
"Don't let Richard find this."
"Not until he's ready."
Elena frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
Claire looked over her shoulder.
Someone was watching.
"I don't have time."
"They've been drugging him."
"They've convinced him he's losing his mind."
"If I disappear..."
She grabbed Elena's hands.
"...protect my baby."
Then she ran back into the rain.
Elena never saw her again.
Present Day.
Brooks whispered,
"So the box stayed hidden..."
"For three years."
Elena nodded.
"I promised her."
"And I keep my promises."
Back at the mansion...
One forensic analyst approached Ruiz with a laptop.
"We recovered data from one of the burner phones."
Ruiz looked at the screen.
"There are deleted voice messages."
"Can you restore them?"
"We already did."
A speaker was connected.
Everyone gathered around.
The first recording began with static.
Then...
Claire's frightened voice.
"If anyone hears this..."
"Vanessa knows I'm pregnant."
"She said the baby changes everything."
Another voice interrupted.
A woman's voice.
Calm.
Cold.
"I gave you a chance to leave."
Claire answered,
"I'm telling Richard."
The woman laughed softly.
"No."
"You won't."
The recording ended with a loud crash.
Then screaming.
Static.
Silence.
Richard clenched his fists.
"That's Vanessa."
Ruiz nodded slowly.
"It sounds like her."
Vanessa suddenly smiled again.
"Almost."
Ruiz looked up.
"What?"
Vanessa leaned forward.
"You've listened to the recording."
"Now ask yourselves one question."
"Why would I confess... while someone was recording me?"
No one answered.
Vanessa's smile widened.
"Because..."
"That isn't my voice."
The forensic analyst looked back at the waveform on his screen.
His expression changed.
"Detective..."
Ruiz turned.
"What?"
The analyst swallowed.
"The recording..."
"...has been professionally altered."
Before anyone could speak again, another officer burst into the room.
"Detective Ruiz!"
"What now?"
"We've identified fingerprints inside the steel box."
Ruiz expected one answer.
Instead, the officer spoke a name that no one in the mansion expected to hear.
May you like
"They're Elena Howard's."
End of Chapter 4
