Chapter 31 - The Mother Who Chose the Witness Stand
Judge Sloan ordered the officers to remove Celeste.
Neither officer moved.
Detective Harris entered behind her and announced that state investigators had obtained jurisdiction over the hearing.
Sloan stepped away from the bench.
Gabriel remained calm on the screen.
Celeste placed the black ledger in front of Leah. It contained payments from shell companies controlled by Gabriel to judges, bank officers, property assessors and private caregivers.
Sloan’s name appeared fourteen times.
Celeste admitted helping conceal some of the transfers when she was younger. She claimed she had believed Gabriel was protecting victims by moving recovered money beyond Voss’s reach.
By the time she understood the truth, Gabriel controlled the records that could imprison her.
“You worked with him after Ada’s death,” Nora said.
“Yes.”
“You allowed him to threaten Benjamin.”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
Celeste looked at her daughter.
“Yes.”
There was no apology large enough to answer all three admissions.
Celeste explained that the train had been a planned escape route. She, Ruth and Elise intended to take Judge Sloan to state investigators. Gabriel redirected the train before they reached the transfer point.
Ruth remained with him voluntarily because she possessed the original seals.
Elise had disappeared when the train stopped inside a freight tunnel.
Judge Sloan claimed Celeste was lying.
She opened the ledger to a marked page.
The final payment to Sloan had been made the previous night.
Its description read:
DELIVER NAOMI. OPEN THE COURT. DELAY NORA.
Harris placed Sloan under investigation and escorted him from the room.
Gabriel finally lost his smile.
Celeste addressed the screen.
“You cannot activate the trust without Elise.”
“I already have what I need.”
The courtroom lights dimmed.
A video appeared beside Gabriel’s image.
Elise sat inside a windowless room, reading from a prepared statement. She accused Celeste of organizing the property scheme and forcing Gabriel to hide the evidence.
Nora watched her sister carefully.
Elise’s voice was steady, but her left hand remained beneath the table.
Three times, she raised two fingers.
Then one.
Then five.
Leah wrote the numbers down.
Celeste stopped breathing for a moment.
“That is not a room number,” she said.
“What is it?” Nora asked.
“The municipal archive closes at 2:15.”
Nora checked the time.
It was 2:07.
Behind Elise, a shadow moved across the wall.
A man leaned toward her and whispered something beyond the microphone.
Elise looked directly into the camera.
Then she said a sentence that had nothing to do with her confession.
May you like
“Tell Nora the sixth key is not inside a house.”
The video ended.
