Chapter 8 - Seventeen Minutes
At 1:05 in the morning, Eleanor unlocked the pool house.
No one had used it since Thomas died.
The room still held folded towels, old tennis rackets, and a cabinet of pool chemicals. A wall clock hung above the mini refrigerator, stopped at 4:19.
Harrison noticed it.
“Was that always broken?”
Mara, standing in the doorway, shook her head. “No.”
Eleanor turned. “You were here that day.”
Mara went pale.
She had worked for the Caldwells for eighteen years.
“I was.”
“What do you remember?”
Mara looked at Sloan, then at the floor.
“Mr. Mercer came through the side gate. Mr. Thomas told me they needed privacy.”
Richard had attended the funeral the next day and said nothing about meeting Thomas.
“What time did he leave?” Daniel asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Mara.”
She swallowed. “I heard shouting.”
Harrison stepped closer. “About what?”
“I couldn’t hear the words. Then something hit the floor. I came down the path, but Mr. Mercer was already outside. He told me Mr. Thomas felt dizzy and had gone back to the house.”
Eleanor’s hands became cold.
“Did you see Thomas?”
“No.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this?”
Mara’s eyes filled. “Because Mr. Mercer said it would make things worse. Then after Mr. Thomas died, I thought… I thought there was no reason to cause you more pain.”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
Sloan spoke from behind them. “My father did not kill Thomas.”
Eleanor opened her eyes.
“No one said he did.”
“You’re all thinking it.”
Harrison faced his wife. “Did your father tell you he met Dad that day?”
Sloan did not answer.
Grant walked to the stopped clock and lifted it from the wall.
Something rattled inside.
He turned it over.
The battery compartment had been taped shut.
Daniel handed him a pocketknife.
Grant cut the tape.
A tiny plastic object fell into his hand.
Not a battery.
A microcassette.
Mara covered her mouth.
Eleanor stared at it.
Thomas had recorded board meetings, interviews, even family histories on small voice recorders because he distrusted digital storage.
Harrison whispered, “Is that his?”
Eleanor nodded.
May you like
Grant held the cassette between two fingers.
And Sloan suddenly ran for the door.
