Chapter 5 - The Story Vanessa ToldVanessa agreed to return to the estate at ten in the morning.
She brought an attorney.
The woman’s name was Claire Benson, a criminal-defense lawyer with a reputation for keeping wealthy clients out of handcuffs.
They sat in the formal library.
Adam stood near the fireplace.
Evelyn refused to sit at all.
Officer Miller placed a recorder on the table.
Claire immediately said, “My client is here voluntarily.”
Miller nodded.
“For now.”
Vanessa looked at Adam.
He would not look back.
Miller began.
“Did you tell Lily the chamber was a clubhouse?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“When it was being built.”
“Why?”
“Because she asked.”
“Did you ask the contractor whether somebody inside could be heard from the lawn?”
Claire turned toward Vanessa.
That question had not been expected.
Vanessa took too long.
“I don’t remember.”
Marcus’s statement was not yet public.
Miller watched her.
“Try.”
“I may have asked about soundproofing.”
“Why?”
“The pool pump is loud.”
“The pump is outside the chamber.”
Claire interrupted.
“Officer, if you have an accusation, make it.”
Miller did.
“Lily says Vanessa Hale directed her into that room yesterday and closed the door.”
Adam finally looked at his wife.
Vanessa’s eyes filled.
“I closed it for maybe ten seconds.”
Evelyn made a sound of disbelief.
Vanessa continued quickly.
“We were playing. Then Grant came around the corner.”
“What happened?”
“He started yelling at me.”
“About?”
“The folder.”
“The blue folder?”
“Yes.”
Miller leaned forward.
“Where is it?”
“I don’t know.”
“What was inside?”
Vanessa looked toward Adam.
“Financial records.”
“What kind?”
“Records showing Grant had been stealing.”
That silenced the room.
Adam stared.
“How long have you known?”
“Three months.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I was trying to understand it.”
“Three months?”
“He said if I accused him without proof, he would destroy me.”
Adam laughed once.
“You?”
Vanessa flinched.
“He knew things about me.”
“What things?”
Claire touched her client’s arm.
Vanessa ignored her.
“I had debt before we married.”
Adam’s expression hardened.
“How much?”
“About two hundred thousand.”
“You told me it was twenty.”
“I was ashamed.”
Evelyn turned away.
Vanessa kept speaking.
“Grant found out. He helped me restructure it.”
“In exchange for what?” Miller asked.
“Nothing at first.”
“At first.”
Vanessa stared at the carpet.
“Later he asked me to approve invoices.”
Adam crossed the room.
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
“How many, Vanessa?”
“Maybe six.”
Adam looked as though she had struck him.
“You stole from us.”
“I didn’t take the money.”
“You approved fake bills.”
“Because he threatened to tell you everything.”
Adam’s voice cracked.
“I would have paid your debt.”
“That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you.”
No one understood.
Vanessa looked directly at him.
“Because I didn’t want you to rescue me.”
For the first time, her confession sounded real.
But it did not make what followed less terrible.
Miller asked, “What happened after Grant arrived yesterday?”
“We argued. Lily came out of the room.”
“So she was not trapped yet.”
“No.”
“Then?”
“She saw the folder on the ground. She picked it up.”
“What did you do?”
“I told her to give it to me.”
“And?”
“She ran back into the room.”
“Why?”
Vanessa began crying.
“Because I yelled.”
Miller remained expressionless.
“Then you closed the door.”
Vanessa nodded.
“How long did you intend to leave her there?”
“Five minutes.”
Evelyn whispered, “Seven hours.”
“I panicked.”
“You searched for her with us,” Adam said.
Vanessa looked at him.
“I know.”
“You called her name.”
“I know.”
“You watched me walk through that house believing my daughter might be dead.”
Vanessa started sobbing.
“I was going to let her out.”
“When?”
“I don’t know.”
“That means never.”
“No!”
Claire ended the interview.
But Miller had one more question.
“Vanessa.”
She stopped.
“When Lily entered the chamber, did she still have the blue folder?”
Vanessa slowly looked back.
“Yes.”
Miller glanced at Evelyn.
The room had been searched after Lily’s rescue.
No blue folder had been found.
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Which meant either Lily had hidden it—
or someone had entered the chamber before police arrived.
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