Chapter 7 - What Eleanor Wanted
Detective Brooks saved them.
She had stepped into the kitchen to call for backup when the pantry door locked. She heard Daniel pounding and forced the latch with a fire extinguisher.
The smoke came from a burning linen cart pushed against the pantry vent.
Nobody saw who lit it.
But the intercom recorder survived.
By noon, Eleanor was being questioned.
She walked out two hours later.
Daniel watched from the hospital lobby.
"How is she not under arrest?"
Detective Brooks lowered her voice.
"We have a recording ordering a camera shut off. We have your statement and Arthur's. We don't yet have a clean recording of the push. Her attorney is claiming the camera was disabled for privacy during a family dispute."
"She almost killed my wife."
"I know."
"No, Detective. I don't think you do."
Brooks met his eyes.
"I know exactly what rich families do when they think money can turn facts into opinions. That's why I'm building this carefully."
Daniel went upstairs.
Sarah was sitting in bed when he entered.
"You look terrible," she said.
"So do you."
"Good. Marriage is about matching."
He laughed once, then covered his face.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For hesitating."
Sarah studied him.
"When?"
"When you said she pushed you."
He sat beside her.
"I knew my mother could be cruel. I didn't know I had trained myself to explain it away."
Sarah took his hand.
"Then stop explaining."
He nodded.
Her phone rang.
Blocked number.
Daniel answered.
A woman's voice said, "Mr. Vance? This is hospital transport. Dr. Grant requested we move Mrs. Vance downstairs for imaging."
Daniel frowned.
"She's already had imaging."
A woman in blue scrubs appeared at the door with a wheelchair.
"Mrs. Vance?"
Sarah looked at Daniel.
Something felt wrong.
The woman smiled.
"Dr. Grant is waiting."
Daniel stepped between her and the bed.
"Show me your badge."
The smile disappeared.
The woman backed away.
Hospital security caught her near the elevators.
Her badge was fake.
Her scrubs were new.
In her purse, security found an envelope containing five thousand dollars cash.
And a printed map of the hospital's service exit.
Detective Brooks arrived twenty minutes later.
"She says someone hired her to scare Sarah into leaving the state."
"Who?" Daniel asked.
"She won't say."
Arthur entered carrying a tablet.
"I may know."
He put the screen in front of Daniel.
The visitor badge printer used to create the fake ID had been registered to one place.
The Vance Foundation's downtown office.
Daniel's face turned hard.
"I'm going to see my mother."
Sarah caught his arm.
"Don't go angry."
He looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because angry people talk."
May you like
She squeezed his hand.
"Make her talk instead."
