Chapter 9 - The Maid's Secret
On the fifth day of her hospital stay, Emma was finally cleared by Dr. Lin for discharge.
She was carefully packing her small overnight bag when a timid knock sounded at the door of her recovery room.
The door creaked open to reveal Maria, the young maid who had risked everything to tell Detective Vance the truth about the staircase incident.
Maria looked nervous, clutching a small bouquet of cheap, colorful grocery store flowers in her hands.
"Miss Emma, I just wanted to come and see if you and the baby were okay before I take my bus back to Texas," Maria said softly, stepping into the room.
Emma immediately stopped packing and walked over to the young girl, wrapping her in a gentle but fierce hug.
"I am fine, Maria, and it is entirely because of your bravery," Emma whispered, feeling the maid's tense shoulders finally relax.
"But you cannot go back to Texas; the Sterling family’s associates might try to find you and punish you for testifying."
Maria looked down at her worn sneakers, tears welling up in her dark eyes.
"I have no choice, Miss Emma," Maria admitted, wiping a tear from her cheek.
"With the mansion seized, I have no job, no money for rent, and my mother relies on the money I send home every week."
Emma smiled warmly, reaching into her purse to pull out an envelope thick with freshly printed cashier's checks.
"Before all the accounts were frozen, I legally transferred the money from my personal, pre-marital savings into a secure trust," Emma explained, handing the envelope to the stunned maid.
"There is fifty thousand dollars in there, Maria, enough to pay for your college tuition and move your mother to a safe, comfortable apartment."
Maria gasped, dropping the flowers onto the bed as she stared at the incredible sum of money in her trembling hands.
"I cannot take this, it is too much," Maria cried, trying to push the envelope back toward Emma.
"You gave me my life back, Maria, so please let me help you start yours," Emma insisted, gently closing the girl's fingers around the envelope.
Maria wept with gratitude, thanking Emma profusely in rapid Spanish before pulling her into another tight embrace.
"Before I go, I need to tell you something important about Mrs. Eleanor," Maria whispered, her tone suddenly turning serious and secretive.
Emma’s brow furrowed in confusion, urging the girl to continue with a nod of her head.
"The night you fell, right before the police arrived, Mrs. Eleanor ordered me to move a heavy steel lockbox from her closet to the false floorboard in the wine cellar," Maria revealed.
"She told me that if I ever breathed a word about it to anyone, she would have my family deported."
Emma’s eyes widened as she instantly realized what the matriarch was trying to hide from the authorities.
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"Unregistered bearer bonds and the family's blood diamonds," Emma murmured, her mind racing with this massive new piece of intelligence.
"Thank you, Maria, you just handed me the final nail in Eleanor Sterling's coffin."
