Chapter 12 - Evelyn's Silence
Evelyn Carter arrived at police headquarters under escort.
She was seventy, elegant, and furious.
"I will not be questioned like a criminal."
Daniel placed the still frame on the table.
Her anger vanished.
"You were there," he said.
Evelyn sat slowly.
"Yes."
"When Dad was drugged."
"I didn't know what Voss injected."
"You watched."
Tears filled her eyes.
"Your father had been fighting Julian for months. Julian threatened to destroy the company if we exposed him."
"So you stayed quiet."
"I was afraid."
Daniel laughed bitterly.
"Claire was afraid too. She still fought."
Evelyn looked down.
"Claire found me two weeks before she disappeared. She had the video."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"She asked me to help her get Julian off the board first. I told her to wait."
"And then she vanished."
Evelyn nodded.
Daniel felt sick.
"Did you know about Grayhaven?"
"Not until afterward. Vanessa told me Claire had checked herself into treatment because she was unstable."
"You believed her?"
"I wanted to."
There it was again.
Not ignorance.
Convenience.
Detective Morris entered.
"We found Officer Reed."
"Where?"
"Bus station. He was carrying cash and a Grayhaven access card."
Daniel stood.
"Did he talk?"
"He says Julian moved Claire to a property no one would search because it's legally owned by someone else."
"Who?"
Morris looked at Evelyn.
"You."
Evelyn's face emptied.
"I own three properties."
"One is a farmhouse outside Bell Creek."
Evelyn whispered, "I haven't been there in fifteen years."
Daniel was already moving.
At the farmhouse, police found fresh tire tracks.
The basement door had three locks.
Morris broke the final one.
Inside was a mattress.
Medical restraints.
Food.
And on the wall, written in lipstick:
DANIEL -- I HEARD EMMA CRYING ON THE PHONE. THEY WERE IN THE HOUSE.
Below it:
May you like
JULIAN HAS A KEY TO EVERYTHING.
Then from somewhere beneath the floor came a faint pounding.
