Chapter 15 - The Case Against Daniel
The investigation moved quickly after that.
Daniel had believed his money would protect him.
Instead, his money created records.
Bank transfers showed desperate payments to underground lenders.
Security footage from a hardware store showed him purchasing specialized cutters.
Digital logs revealed he had ordered chemical compounds under a false company name.
The mechanic who inspected Emily’s damaged car was interviewed again.
This time, he said something investigators had missed.
The brake line had not ruptured.
It had been sliced.
Daniel’s carefully constructed accidents collapsed one by one.
The hospital retained samples from Emily’s previous food poisoning.
New testing found traces of a toxic substance inconsistent with spoiled mushrooms.
Then Mara’s stained tea sample came back from the laboratory.
Poison.
Enough to cause organ failure.
Daniel was charged with multiple counts of attempted murder.
Conspiracy.
Fraud.
Evidence tampering.
Unlawful use of a signal jammer.
And several financial crimes connected to his gambling debts.
His lawyers immediately attacked Mara.
They called her unstable.
Obsessed.
Vindictive.
Then Thomas Reed appeared.
Mara’s private-investigator friend had recorded their phone conversation before the lockdown.
The timestamp proved Mara contacted him before Daniel trapped them.
Thomas also produced photos from earlier surveillance.
For several weeks, Mara had quietly asked him to investigate Daniel because she suspected something was wrong.
The photographs showed Daniel meeting known gambling figures.
Buying tools.
Visiting a chemical supplier.
The defense stopped calling Mara delusional.
Then came Daniel’s biggest mistake.
The panic-room system had recorded audio automatically.
Every word.
“I married your name.”
“The mushrooms were disappointing.”
“That should have worked.”
“You’re surprisingly difficult to kill.”
The prosecutor played the recording during Daniel’s bail hearing.
The courtroom went silent.
Daniel stared at the table.
Emily sat behind the prosecutor.
Mara beside her.
For the first time, Daniel refused to look back.
The judge denied bail.
Daniel was remanded into custody.
Outside the courthouse, reporters surrounded Emily.
“Mrs. Blackwood, did you know your husband wanted you dead?”
“Will you divorce him?”
“Do you blame yourself?”
Emily stopped.
Mara looked worried.
Emily turned toward the cameras.
“No woman should blame herself for trusting someone who deliberately deceived her.”
The crowd became silent.
“I survived because another woman saw danger and refused to stay quiet.”
Emily looked at Mara.
“She saved my life.”
Mara’s eyes filled.
Emily continued walking.
Inside the car, she finally exhaled.
Thomas sat in front.
“You did well.”
Emily looked through the window at the courthouse.
“This isn’t over.”
“No.”
Daniel still had powerful friends.
Money.
Lawyers.
Secrets.
And Emily knew a desperate man was most dangerous when he had nothing left to lose.
Two days later, Lieutenant Harris called.
His voice was tense.
“Emily, Daniel tried to make a phone call from jail.”
“To whom?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“What did he say?”
May you like
Harris paused.
“Finish what I started.”
