Chapter 18 - The Woman at the Airport
Claire stared at the photograph until it blurred.
“That’s impossible.”
Lily slid off her chair. “Mommy?”
Ethan grabbed the photo.
The woman wore sunglasses and a gray coat, but the face was unmistakable.
Ortiz said, “Image was captured forty minutes ago.”
Charles whispered, “No.”
Thomas, brought in under guard to identify the woman, looked just as shocked.
“I watched Anna fall,” he said.
Claire turned. “You saw the body?”
“I saw her go over the railing. Charles’s people blocked the grounds before I could get closer.”
Claire remembered the funeral.
Closed casket.
Charles had said the injuries were too severe.
Ortiz’s phone rang.
Airport police had located Victoria near a service terminal.
They also found the woman with her.
Alive.
Her real name, according to her identification, was Rebecca Sloan.
Anna’s older half-sister.
Claire sat down.
She had never known Anna had a sister.
Rebecca had spent years overseas and looked enough like Anna to fool a distant security camera.
Victoria had used her as bait.
“Why?” Ethan asked.
Ortiz’s expression tightened. “To pull police resources toward the airport.”
Claire understood first.
“The music box.”
Everyone turned.
Victoria had never cared about escaping on a plane.
She wanted time.
Time to reach whatever evidence remained before police did.
Lily suddenly said, “Mommy’s last minute.”
Claire remembered the message sent with the red piano photograph.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT THE TRUTH ABOUT ANNA’S LAST MINUTE.
The red piano was not at the airport.
“Where did Margaret keep it before she gave it to Victoria?” Claire asked Charles.
“The lake house.”
Ethan’s face hardened.
They drove there with police.
Snow had begun to fall by the time they reached the property.
The balcony where Anna died overlooked a frozen garden.
Inside Anna’s old bedroom, Ortiz found fresh footprints in the dust.
Victoria had been there.
A section of floor beneath the bed had been pried open.
Inside was an old digital recorder.
Claire pressed play.
Anna’s voice filled the room.
“I’m recording because Charles threatened me again.”
Footsteps.
A door opening.
Victoria shouting.
Then Anna crying, “Michael, take Lily and run!”
Ethan stopped the recording.
“Michael was here that night?”
Charles looked at the floor.
“Yes.”
Ethan turned on him.
“You told us he was in Boston.”
Charles whispered, “He arrived before she fell.”
The recorder continued.
Michael shouted, “Dad, what did you do?”
May you like
Then came the sound of a gunshot.
And Anna screamed.
