Chapter 8 - The Confession in the Greenhouse
Sarah reached the greenhouse before the investigators surrounded her.
Rain struck the glass walls as she stood among the empty planting tables, still wearing her white gala gown. Mud covered the hem. Her hair had come loose, and the calm, elegant hostess had disappeared.
Elena entered with Daniel and Investigator Ortiz.
Two officers remained near the doors.
Sarah laughed bitterly.
“You finally got what you wanted.”
“My daughter safe in her own home?”
“You wanted to humiliate me.”
“You forged my signature.”
“I was trying to protect the family.”
“By stealing Bellweather?”
“By keeping it from disappearing into Mercer secrets.”
Elena stepped closer.
“What do you know about Marianne?”
Sarah looked toward Daniel.
“I want a lawyer.”
“You are looking at one,” Daniel said. “Unfortunately, I represent Elena.”
Sarah turned away.
Ortiz spoke.
“You have the right to remain silent. You also have the right to explain why charitable funds connected to your name were transferred into shell accounts.”
“My mother handled the accounts.”
Vivian was escorted into the greenhouse by another officer.
She had removed her navy jacket. Her hair was wet from the rain.
Sarah stared at her.
“You told me Northstar was an investment fund.”
Vivian said nothing.
“You told me the hospital donations were temporary loans.”
“Be quiet.”
“You said Elena would never examine the accounts.”
“Sarah.”
“You used me.”
Vivian’s expression hardened.
“Everything you have came from me.”
“No. Everything I have came from pretending you knew what you were doing.”
The investigators exchanged a glance.
Elena stepped between them.
“Who controls Northstar?”
Vivian looked at her.
“You should have signed the trust.”
“Why?”
“Because Bellweather is not safe under your name.”
“Safe from whom?”
Vivian’s eyes moved toward Mia, who stood outside beneath the covered terrace with Rosa and an officer.
Elena noticed.
“Do not look at my daughter.”
Vivian’s voice softened.
“You think I wanted any of this?”
“You forged my signature.”
“I prevented you from losing everything.”
“You tried to transfer my home to Sarah.”
“The trust was a shield.”
“A shield that allowed Sarah to sell forty million dollars of protected land?”
Vivian turned sharply toward her daughter.
“You changed the conservation clause?”
Sarah looked away.
Vivian took one step toward her.
“You were supposed to transfer the mansion only.”
“I needed enough money to replace the hospital funds.”
“You said the accounts were balanced.”
“They were until Northstar demanded repayment.”
Elena felt the pieces beginning to connect.
Sarah had stolen donations and moved them into Northstar-controlled investments. When the investments failed or the money was demanded back, she needed Bellweather’s land to cover the loss.
Vivian had helped create the forged trust, believing she could place Bellweather beyond another threat.
They were both guilty.
But perhaps not of the same plan.
Daniel asked, “Why did Northstar demand repayment?”
Vivian looked at the officers.
“I will speak only under a formal agreement.”
Ortiz replied, “That depends on what you know.”
“I know Marianne Mercer is alive.”
Elena’s chest tightened.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“You were her adviser.”
“Twenty-three years ago.”
“Why did she disappear?”
Vivian looked toward the rain.
“Marianne discovered that Northstar was laundering money through property acquisitions. She tried to expose the directors.”
“What directors?”
“People with political connections, banks and development companies. Men who never placed their names on documents.”
“And my father?”
“Gabriel wanted her to stop.”
“Was he involved?”
“No. He was afraid.”
“Then why did he declare her dead?”
“To make Northstar believe she was no longer a threat.”
Elena thought of the empty coffin.
“He destroyed her life.”
“He saved it.”
“He stole her daughter.”
Vivian’s voice broke for the first time.
“Marianne chose to leave.”
Elena stared at her.
“She told Gabriel that as long as Elena believed she was dead, no one could use the child to find her.”
“You knew I was grieving.”
“I knew you were alive.”
“That was enough for you?”
“No.”
Vivian lowered her eyes.
“But it was the agreement.”
“What agreement?”
“Gabriel paid me to manage the remaining Northstar accounts. In return, I kept Marianne’s location secret.”
Sarah looked stunned.
“You had access to Northstar before Adrian died?”
“Yes.”
“Then you knew where the gala money went.”
“I knew you were moving money. I did not know how much.”
“You showed me the accounts.”
“To teach you about investments, not to steal from sick children.”
Sarah laughed without humor.
“You taught me that appearances were more important than truth.”
Vivian slapped the planting table with her palm.
“I taught you to survive.”
“No. You taught me to lie.”
Elena let them turn on each other.
Every accusation was being recorded.
Daniel asked the question Elena feared most.
“What happened to Adrian?”
Vivian closed her eyes.
“He found Thomas Reed.”
“We know.”
“He found Marianne too.”
Elena lifted the photograph from the envelope.
“Three days before his death.”
Vivian saw it and inhaled sharply.
“Where did you get that?”
“She left it in the study.”
“She was inside the mansion?”
“Mia saw her.”
Vivian backed away.
“Then you need to leave Bellweather tonight.”
“Why?”
“Because Marianne would never return unless she believed Northstar had found her.”
“Did Northstar kill Adrian?”
“I don’t know.”
“You said you knew about his investigation.”
“He confronted me. I told him to stop. He refused.”
“What happened on the day he died?”
Vivian’s face seemed to age in front of them.
“He received a call from someone using Marianne’s number.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“He left Bellweather because he thought he was meeting her?”
“Yes.”
“Did you follow him?”
“No.”
“Did Sarah?”
Everyone looked at Sarah.
She stepped backward.
“I didn’t kill my brother.”
“That was not the question,” Ortiz said.
Sarah’s breathing became uneven.
“I followed him to the highway.”
Elena could barely hear her.
“Why?”
“Mother said he was going to expose the accounts.”
Vivian turned on her.
“I told you to talk to him.”
“I tried. He wouldn’t stop.”
“What did you do?”
Sarah’s eyes filled with tears.
“I called him while he was driving. We argued.”
Elena remembered the police report.
Adrian’s phone had been found beneath the passenger seat. The final call record had been corrupted.
“What did you say?” Elena asked.
“I told him if he destroyed Mother, I would make sure you lost Bellweather.”
“And then?”
“He said the house had never been the danger.”
“What did he mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“Tell me the rest.”
Sarah looked toward Mia outside the greenhouse.
“He said Marianne was not hiding from Northstar.”
Elena waited.
May you like
Sarah’s voice dropped.
“He said Marianne was hiding from Gabriel.”
