Chapter 15 - The Woman Behind the Mask
Victoria sat in a hospital treatment room under police guard.
Her shoulder was bandaged. Her diamonds were gone. Her hair was loose. The velvet gown had been replaced by a gray hospital shirt.
Richard entered alone after detectives agreed to a monitored conversation.
Victoria looked up.
“You came.”
“I wanted to see whether you could lie to my face one more time.”
Her expression cracked.
“Richard—”
“You stole Caroline’s letter.”
Silence.
“You knew she had discovered Marcus.”
Victoria looked away.
“Answer me.”
“Yes.”
His chest tightened.
“You hired the mechanic.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I didn’t know the car would crash like that.”
Richard stared at her in disbelief.
“You paid someone to tamper with my wife’s car.”
“Marcus said it only needed to frighten her. He said the brakes would fail at low speed.”
“And you believed him?”
“I wanted to.”
“No. You wanted the money.”
Victoria’s face twisted. “You think this was all simple? Marcus owned everyone. He had things on people.”
“He had something on you?”
She said nothing.
“What?”
Victoria looked at the camera in the corner, then back at Richard.
“He knew about my brother.”
Richard frowned.
Her younger brother, Evan, had died of an overdose years earlier.
“At least that’s what everyone believed,” Victoria said.
Richard waited.
“He was moving money for Marcus. When he tried to stop, Marcus destroyed him. I wanted proof. I got close to Marcus to find it.”
Richard’s voice was flat. “And somewhere along the way you helped kill Caroline, steal from me, terrorize Maya, and plan her disappearance.”
Victoria began crying.
“I loved you.”
Richard laughed once without humor.
“You studied me.”
“I did love you.”
“You locked my daughter in a room because she cried for her mother.”
Victoria flinched.
“She kept rejecting me.”
“She’s two.”
“She would look at Caroline’s picture and scream when I tried to hold her. Do you know what that felt like?”
Richard leaned forward.
“Yes. It felt like a child knowing what I was too blind to see.”
Victoria went still.
He stood.
As he reached the door, she whispered, “Marcus has another copy.”
Richard turned.
“Of what?”
“The video from the night Caroline died.”
Richard’s hand tightened on the handle.
“What video?”
May you like
Victoria looked terrified.
“One that proves the crash was not an accident.”
