Chapter 5 - THE MAID WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
At Whitmore Manor, Rosa sat alone in the library.
Her hands shook around a paper cup of water.
Detective Lena Park, Cole’s partner, placed a recorder on the table.
“You are not under arrest.”
Rosa glanced toward the closed door.
“They will destroy me.”
“Vanessa?”
“All of them.”
Park leaned forward.
“Did you see Vanessa push Emma?”
Rosa’s eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
The word was barely audible.
Park waited.
Rosa pressed both hands to her face.
“Mrs. Emma never attacked her.”
“Miss Vanessa blocked the stairs.”
“She accused Mrs. Emma of stealing documents.”
“Mrs. Emma tried to walk away.”
“Then Miss Vanessa pushed her.”
“Why did you stay silent?”
Rosa reached into her apron.
She removed a photograph of a teenage boy wearing a school uniform.
“My son.”
“Vanessa knows where he studies.”
“She said if I spoke, he would disappear.”
Park’s expression tightened.
“Did she threaten anyone else?”
“The former accountant.”
“What former accountant?”
“Mr. Thomas Bell.”
Park knew the name.
Thomas Bell had died eight months earlier after his car went off a bridge.
The death had been ruled an accident.
Rosa looked toward the door again.
“Mr. Bell came to the mansion before he died.”
“He argued with Mr. Charles.”
“He said the foundation accounts were false.”
“What happened after the argument?”
“Mr. Charles told a security man to follow him.”
“Which security man?”
“Grant Mercer.”
Park immediately sent the name to Cole.
Grant Mercer was still employed by the Whitmores.
He had been the person ordered to disable the security cameras before Emma’s fall.
A crash sounded in the hallway.
Rosa jumped to her feet.
The library lights went out.
Park drew her weapon.
“Stay behind me.”
Smoke began creeping under the door.
Someone had activated the mansion’s fire system.
Alarms rang through the halls.
Officers shouted instructions.
Park opened the library’s side door and saw guests, employees, and relatives being moved outside.
In the confusion, a masked man entered through the servants’ corridor.
He rushed toward Rosa.
Park intercepted him.
The man shoved a bookcase into her path and grabbed Rosa’s wrist.
Rosa screamed.
Two officers ran into the room.
The attacker released her and escaped through an open window.
Outside, police searched the gardens.
They found a discarded mask beside the hedge.
They also found a Whitmore security badge.
The name printed beneath the photograph was Grant Mercer.
When Cole received the news at the hospital, he looked at Emma.
“Your family’s security chief just tried to take our witness.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“He will not get far.”
Cole studied him.
“You sound certain.”
Daniel stood.
“Grant has a private hunting lodge north of the city.”
“My father uses it for meetings he does not want recorded.”
Cole called Park immediately.
Emma watched Daniel in silence.
It was the first time he had chosen the truth over his family.
But one useful decision could not erase years of blindness.
Daniel seemed to understand that.
“I know this does not fix anything,” he said.
“No,” Emma replied.
“It does not.”
May you like
“But it might help us find Rosa’s attacker.”
“And perhaps the man who killed Thomas Bell.”
