Chapter 12 - Eleanor’s Secret
I didn’t believe him.
Not at first.
Charles lied as naturally as other people breathed.
But Detective Reed did what detectives do.
He checked.
The basement crime scene provided the first answer.
Blood traces behind the rebuilt wall belonged to Natalie Price.
Fingerprints on an old metal stair railing belonged to Adrian.
And Eleanor.
Then came a forensic report.
Natalie had suffered a serious blow to the head.
But the remains recovered from the quarry showed something else.
A fracture in the cervical spine.
Her neck had been broken.
Possibly after the head injury.
Eleanor was brought in for questioning.
For six hours, she denied everything.
Then police showed her Daniel’s statement.
She changed.
Not dramatically.
She simply stopped pretending.
I saw her two days later through the observation glass at the station.
No pearls.
No designer jacket.
No carefully arranged hair.
Just a tired woman in a gray sweater.
Detective Reed sat across from her.
“What happened to Natalie?”
Eleanor stared at the table.
“My son hit her.”
“With what?”
“A wine bottle.”
“Why?”
“She told him she was leaving.”
“What happened afterward?”
“She fell.”
“Was she conscious?”
“Yes.”
My stomach turned.
“What did she say?”
Eleanor’s mouth trembled.
“She said she would destroy Adrian.”
Reed remained silent.
“She said she had bank records. Messages. Photographs.”
“And you killed her?”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
“I wanted her to stop screaming.”
My hands became fists.
“How?”
“She tried to crawl up the stairs.”
Eleanor’s voice barely existed.
“I grabbed her.”
Reed asked, “By the neck?”
No response.
“Eleanor?”
“Yes.”
“Did you intend to kill her?”
“She was going to destroy everything.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Eleanor began crying.
“I don’t know what I intended.”
I did.
She intended to protect the Mercer name.
Exactly as she had protected Adrian at dinner.
Exactly as she had protected Charles after the kidnapping.
Exactly as she had watched me bleed and asked me not to embarrass the family.
Eleanor had not suddenly become a monster in that basement.
She had simply been one for longer than anyone wanted to admit.
Then Reed asked about Rachel Donovan.
Eleanor’s head snapped up.
Even through the glass, I saw fear.
“Rachel is alive,” she said quickly.
Reed leaned forward.
“You know that?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“She escaped.”
The room went still.
“Escaped from what?”
Eleanor covered her face.
“Adrian.”
My heartbeat changed.
Reed asked, “What did he do to her?”
Eleanor whispered:
“He kept her locked in the basement for six days.”
I felt sick.
“Why?”
“She tried to report him for assault.”
Reed’s voice hardened.
“Where is Rachel now?”
“I told you. I don’t know.”
Then Eleanor lowered her hands.
“But someone does.”
“Who?”
She looked directly toward the observation window.
Straight at me.
May you like
Even though she couldn’t see through the glass, I felt her eyes land on mine.
“Claire’s husband.”
