Chapter 7 - caroline saw julia before the crash
Gabriel entered the interview room before Shaw could stop him.
Caroline looked up.
Her face collapsed.
"Gabriel."
"What happened that night?"
Her attorney stood.
"This interview is over."
Gabriel ignored him.
"What happened to my wife?"
Caroline shook her head.
"I didn't kill her."
"I didn't ask that."
"I swear."
"What happened?"
Shaw entered behind Gabriel.
"Mr. Mercer, outside."
"No."
"Gabriel."
He did not move.
Caroline wiped her face.
"I followed Julia because Malcolm asked me to."
Gabriel stared at her.
"Why?"
"He said she had stolen confidential company files."
"Did you believe him?"
"I don't know."
"That's not an answer."
"I didn't want to know!"
Caroline's voice cracked.
"I had debts. Malcolm knew. He had covered them before. He said if I helped him get the files back, he would erase everything."
"What debts?"
"Investments. Loans. It doesn't matter."
"It mattered enough for you to follow my wife."
Caroline looked down.
"She left the mansion around nine."
Gabriel remembered that night.
Julia had told him she needed air.
They had argued earlier.
Not violently.
But enough that Gabriel still replayed it in his head.
He had accused her of being secretive.
She had accused him of trusting Malcolm more than her.
Then she left.
Caroline continued.
"I followed her onto Millbrook Road."
"Was Malcolm there?"
"No."
"Who was?"
"I don't know."
"What do you mean?"
"There was another car."
Gabriel leaned closer.
"What car?"
"Dark SUV. No plates that I could see."
Shaw began taking notes.
"What happened?"
"Julia pulled over near the old quarry road. I stayed back."
"Why did she stop?"
"I don't know. She got out."
Gabriel's breathing changed.
The police report had never said Julia stopped.
Caroline continued.
"Someone got out of the other SUV."
"Who?"
"I couldn't see his face."
"Male?"
"I think so."
"Then what?"
"They argued."
"About what?"
"I couldn't hear."
"Then what?"
"Julia got back into her car."
Caroline's voice became quieter.
"The SUV followed her."
Gabriel felt nauseated.
"And you?"
"I followed too."
"How far?"
"Almost to the bridge."
"Almost?"
Caroline began crying again.
"I got scared."
"You left?"
"I turned around."
Gabriel stared at her.
"You saw my wife being followed by a stranger on a stormy road and you turned around?"
"I didn't know she was going to die."
"She was your family."
Caroline flinched.
Gabriel wanted to hate her completely.
But hatred was complicated by the terror in her face.
She had done terrible things.
But something about this frightened her far more than prison.
Shaw asked, "Why didn't you tell investigators?"
"Malcolm said the other car had nothing to do with it."
"How would he know?"
Caroline's face went blank.
Shaw leaned forward.
"Caroline."
"I asked him the next morning."
"And?"
"He already knew there had been another SUV."
Gabriel felt every muscle in his body tighten.
"Before you told him?"
Caroline nodded.
Shaw and Gabriel looked at each other.
That changed everything.
If Malcolm knew about the second vehicle before Caroline told him, then he had obtained that information elsewhere.
Or he had arranged it.
Shaw asked, "What exactly did Malcolm say?"
Caroline closed her eyes.
"He said, the driver did what he was paid to do."
Silence.
Her attorney turned toward her in shock.
Gabriel could hear his own heartbeat.
Shaw asked carefully, "Paid to do what?"
Caroline shook her head.
"He never said."
"You didn't ask?"
"I did."
"And?"
"He told me Julia was dead and asking questions would only make me join her."
Gabriel turned away.
He walked to the far wall.
For four months, he had lived with guilt.
He had believed Julia drove too fast because of their argument.
He had blamed himself for letting her leave.
He had replayed the final words he said.
If you don't trust me, maybe you shouldn't be here.
Those words had lived inside him like poison.
Now he realized Julia had not died because she was angry.
She had been hunted.
Shaw asked Caroline, "Why did you help Malcolm after that?"
Caroline's answer came almost soundless.
"Because by then I knew what he was capable of."
Gabriel turned.
"So you endangered Emma."
"I didn't think she'd fall."
"You released a stroller toward a staircase."
"I thought Nora would catch it."
"And if she didn't?"
Caroline looked at him.
"I know."
"No. You don't."
Gabriel stepped closer.
"You don't know what it feels like to hear your baby screaming at the bottom of a staircase."
Caroline sobbed.
"You don't know what it's like to watch your daughter ask whether someone killed her mother."
"Gabriel."
"You don't know what it feels like to discover your own sister helped the man who may have murdered your wife."
Caroline's face crumpled.
"I am sorry."
Gabriel looked at her for a long time.
Then he said, "Sorry is not the same as innocent."
He left.
Outside, Shaw followed him.
"We can charge her."
"Do it."
"Reckless endangerment. Evidence tampering. Possibly conspiracy depending on what we establish."
Gabriel nodded.
"And Malcolm?"
"We need more."
"He arranged Julia's death."
"Probably."
"Probably?"
"I need evidence a jury can hear."
Gabriel looked through the station window.
Rain had started outside.
The same kind of rain that fell the night Julia died.
Shaw's phone rang.
She answered.
Her expression changed.
"What?"
Gabriel looked at her.
Shaw listened.
Then ended the call.
"We found Samuel Voss."
Gabriel stepped toward her.
"Where?"
"Boston."
"Alive?"
"Yes."
"Then bring him in."
Shaw did not move.
"Gabriel, there's a problem."
"What?"
"Voss says he'll talk."
"That isn't a problem."
"He says he'll only talk to you."
"Fine."
"And he says you need to come alone."
Gabriel stared at her.
"Why?"
May you like
Shaw looked unsettled.
"Because he says someone inside the police department has been helping Malcolm."
