Chapter 12 - Diane Comes Home
Diane returned to the Mercer estate two days later.
She arrived in a taxi shortly before dawn, walked through the open gate, and entered the house as though she had merely returned from a weekend trip.
Police arrested her in the foyer.
She requested Margaret Vale as her attorney.
Margaret refused to represent her.
During questioning, Diane denied leaving the country.
“The aircraft belonged to an associate,” she said. “I never boarded it.”
Airport footage supported her claim. A woman wearing Diane’s coat and scarf had boarded the plane, but facial recognition showed it was not her.
“Who was the woman?” Detective Ortiz asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Who arranged the deception?”
“Victor.”
“Where did you go?”
“I remained in Westbridge.”
“Where?”
Diane smiled faintly.
“In a place your department does not know exists.”
She admitted participating in the guardianship scheme but claimed Victor had forced her to cooperate.
“He controls the Ashcroft trustees,” she said. “He controls doctors, judges, banks, and hospitals.”
“You created the Mercer Foundation,” Ortiz replied.
“I created a charity. Victor turned it into a weapon.”
“You kept files on vulnerable families.”
“To understand what Victor was doing.”
“You received millions in management fees.”
“To pay him.”
“You left your granddaughter outside a clinic.”
Diane’s composure slipped.
“That was not the plan.”
“What was the plan?”
“Doctor Lyle was supposed to receive her through the employee entrance.”
“Why didn’t he?”
“Victor changed the instructions.”
“Why?”
Diane looked toward the observation window.
“He wanted Sarah to speak.”
“To expose you?”
“To force James to investigate.”
Detective Ortiz studied her.
“You are saying Victor wanted the plan to fail?”
“He wanted James to find Anna’s records.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect us to believe that?”
Diane leaned forward.
“Victor spent five years ensuring James never opened that storage unit. Then, on the exact night Sarah was left at the clinic, someone sent James toward Anna’s key.”
“Melissa found the key.”
“No. Melissa believed it had been destroyed.”
James watched from the observation room.
Margaret stood beside him.
“Could Diane be telling the truth?” he asked.
“She can tell the truth and still be guilty.”
Detective Ortiz returned to the question of Sarah’s birth.
“What happened at St. Catherine’s?”
Diane’s eyes moved toward the camera.
“My daughter gave birth to a healthy girl.”
“Which girl?”
“The child James calls Sarah.”
“Were the identification bands changed?”
“Yes.”
“By whom?”
“Victor.”
“Why?”
“He said Eleanor Ashcroft’s child needed to disappear.”
“Was Sarah Eleanor’s child?”
Diane smiled without warmth.
“That is what Anna believed.”
“What do you believe?”
“I believe Eleanor did not give birth that night.”
Catherine’s records clearly stated that three women had delivered babies.
“What was Eleanor doing in the maternity ward?”
“Hiding.”
“From whom?”
“Her father.”
“Why was she registered as Rebecca Shaw?”
“She had discovered how the Ashcroft trustees were stealing from her inheritance. She planned to expose them.”
“Did Victor work for the trustees?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to Eleanor?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did she leave the hospital with a child?”
“No.”
“How can you be certain?”
“Because I saw her leave alone.”
Diane sat back.
“The third infant belonged to someone else.”
“Who?”
“I never learned her name.”
“Where did that infant go?”
Diane’s expression changed.
“Victor took her.”
James entered the interview room before Ortiz could stop him.
“Which child did Melissa take home?”
Diane looked at him.
“You should not be here.”
“Answer me.”
“She took home the child placed in her arms.”
“Was it the baby she delivered?”
“I don’t know.”
“You changed the bracelets.”
“I moved them. Victor replaced them.”
“Why did Anna create the trust?”
“To protect Sarah from Victor.”
“Why Sarah?”
“Because Anna believed Sarah had seen him.”
“She was three when Anna died.”
“Children remember more than adults think.”
James placed the nursery photograph on the table.
“Anna wrote that Victor changed the babies.”
Diane looked at the image.
For the first time, genuine fear crossed her face.
“Where did you get this?”
“Catherine Rowe.”
Diane rose so suddenly that the chair fell backward.
“You brought Catherine here?”
“She came to us.”
“You need to move Sarah tonight.”
“She is protected.”
“No place is protected if Catherine has returned.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor was never watching Sarah.”
“Who was he watching?”
Diane pointed toward the photograph.
“Catherine.”
At that moment, Detective Ortiz’s phone rang.
Officers had arrived at Catherine’s temporary safe house.
The rooms were empty.
There was no sign of forced entry.
On the kitchen table, Catherine had left a note addressed to James.
I remembered who entered room 614.
May you like
It was not Eleanor.
It was Anna.
