Chapter 5 - The Woman in the Hallway
Daniel chased the footsteps.
Emily followed.
By the time they reached the winter garden, the outer door was swinging open.
A figure disappeared across the lawn.
Daniel ran outside.
Emily reached the doorway seconds later.
The figure climbed into a waiting car.
The vehicle sped away.
Daniel returned breathing heavily.
“Did you see who it was?”
Emily shook her head.
“Vanessa?”
“I couldn’t tell.”
Margaret remained inside the corridor with the metal box.
When Emily returned, Margaret was holding the cassette.
“Richard kept an old tape player.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Where?”
“In his study.”
They found it inside a cabinet beneath several boxes of old documents.
Daniel inserted the cassette.
For several seconds, only static filled the room.
Then a man’s voice appeared.
Victor Hale.
“You should have kept your mouth shut, Laura.”
Emily gripped the chair.
Her mother answered.
“I copied everything.”
“You think Margaret will believe a bookkeeper over me?”
“She will believe the accounts.”
Victor laughed.
“Then your daughter loses her mother.”
Silence followed.
Emily’s stomach turned.
Laura’s voice came again.
“If you touch Emily, I’ll go to the police.”
“You won’t make it to the police.”
The recording abruptly ended.
Daniel’s face became pale with rage.
Margaret covered her mouth.
Emily could barely speak.
“He threatened to kill me.”
Margaret nodded miserably.
“I never knew it was that direct.”
Emily turned on her.
“But you knew he threatened her.”
Margaret did not deny it.
Daniel looked at his mother.
“How much did you know?”
Margaret stood slowly.
“Your father told me Laura had become unstable.”
“He said she was blackmailing Victor.”
“He showed me documents.”
“Documents that were forged.”
Margaret’s voice broke.
“I believed my husband.”
Emily stared at her.
“My mother begged you to help.”
“Yes.”
“And you chose your reputation.”
Margaret flinched.
Emily picked up the cassette.
“I’m taking this to the police.”
Daniel nodded.
“I’ll go with you.”
Margaret suddenly looked toward the window.
Headlights appeared at the front gate.
A black Mercedes approached.
Vanessa had returned.
She walked into the mansion ten minutes later.
Her hair was perfectly arranged.
Her expression was controlled again.
She looked at the cassette in Emily’s hand.
May you like
Then she smiled.
“You really should have left this house when I gave you the chance.”
