Chapter 12 - Eleanor's Gun

The blood was not Eleanor's.

That was the first thing Detective Ruiz established.

"Whose is it?" Laura asked.

Eleanor sat wrapped in a gray fire blanket while paramedics checked her lungs.

"I don't know."

"You walked out holding Leonard's gun."

"He came into the house."

Mark crouched in front of her. "When?"

"Right after you went under the pool."

"Why didn't you call us?"

"He took my phone."

Eleanor's hands shook beneath the blanket. "He said he needed Daniel's confession. I told him I didn't have it."

"And then?"

"He laughed. He said Daniel had always trusted hiding places more than people."

Laura looked toward the pool house, where firefighters were drowning the last flames.

"Did you shoot him?"

"No."

"Mom."

"No."

Eleanor looked straight at her. "Richard did."

"He was here?" Evelyn asked.

"Before you went into the tunnel. Leonard met him near the garage."

"Want to accuse me properly," he said, "or keep whispering?"

"I heard the gun. Then Leonard came into the kitchen bleeding."

"Where was he hit?"

"Shoulder."

Ruiz approached. "Mr. Vale, I need you to come with me."

"Did you discharge a firearm on this property?"

Richard looked at Eleanor, then at the siblings.

"Yes."

"Because Leonard pulled his gun first."

"Where is he now?" Ruiz asked.

Richard shook his head. "I don't know."

"Convenient."

"Detective, if I wanted Leonard dead, I had twenty-eight years to handle it."

Ruiz led him toward the cruiser.

Evelyn muttered, "This family needs a new hobby."

Mark almost smiled, then stopped when Agent Carson arrived.

The FBI agent held up a plastic evidence bag.

Inside was Laura's missing digital security token.

"We found this in the burned pool house."

Laura stared at it. "That token disappeared six months ago."

"Then Leonard planted it."

"Maybe."

"What do you mean maybe?"

"We also found a partial fingerprint."

Carson's eyes shifted toward Evelyn.

"No," Mark said.

Carson continued. "It's Evelyn's."

"Did you enter the pool house recently?"

"No."

"Did you ever handle Laura's security token?"

"No."

"Ev?"

"I lied."

Mark's face tightened.

"About what?"

Evelyn swallowed.

May you like

She Pushed His Pregnant Wife Down the Stairs—But the Camera Recorded Muc...

Part 2 👉https://nexus.treeiq.biz/blog/she-pushed-his-pregnant-wife-down-the-stairs-but-the-camera-recorded-much-more“Dad… look at...

My 5-Year-Old Son Begged Me Not to Marry Her—Then I Came Home Early and...

Part 2 👉https://nexus.treeiq.biz/blog/my-5-year-old-son-begged-me-not-to-marry-her-then-i-came-home-early-and-discovered-the-trut...

She Pushed Her Pregnant Daughter-in-Law Into the Pool—Then Her Purse Fel...

Part 2 👉https://nexus.treeiq.biz/blog/she-pushed-her-pregnant-daughter-in-law-into-the-pool-then-her-purse-fell-openRachel never...

"The night Dad died, I was here."

The House That Lied