Chapter 10 - THE GREEN DRESS
Investigators searched every property connected to Vanessa.
They found nothing.
Her bank accounts had not been touched.
No flights had been booked in her name.
Eleanor publicly claimed that her daughter had suffered an emotional breakdown.
She accused Emma of manipulating Ethan and destroying the Hawthorne family.
Reporters gathered outside the secure apartment.
Emma watched Eleanor’s statement on television.
“My daughter is innocent,” Eleanor said.
“This investigation is driven by a vindictive woman seeking money and attention.”
Emma switched off the screen.
Ethan stood near the kitchen doorway.
He had come to bring her personal belongings from the mansion.
“Vanessa owned three green dresses,” he said.
Emma looked at him.
“What?”
“The police asked about the torn fabric.”
He opened a garment bag.
Inside was the gown Vanessa had worn during the birthday dinner.
A section was missing near the waist.
“The fabric matches,” Ethan said.
“Why do you have it?”
“I found it inside Mother’s fireplace.”
Eleanor had attempted to burn the gown.
The fire had damaged the lower half, but the missing section remained visible.
Emma studied Ethan.
“Why are you helping me now?”
“Because I spent my whole life helping them.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
He took a slow breath.
“I love you.”
Emma’s expression did not change.
“Love without courage is just another kind of lie.”
Ethan lowered his eyes.
“I know.”
He placed another object on the table.
It was the silver flash drive Emma had dropped on the staircase.
“Where did you find it?”
“Inside Mother’s desk.”
Eleanor had taken it before the police entered the mansion.
She had been unable to unlock the encrypted files.
Emma connected the drive to a laptop supplied by Ruiz.
A password request appeared.
Emma entered her father’s birthday.
The drive opened.
Folders of bank records appeared.
At the bottom was one video file.
The date showed it had been recorded two nights before Owen Lawson’s arrest.
Emma pressed play.
Robert Hawthorne, Ethan and Vanessa’s late father, appeared on the screen.
His face was bruised.
He looked directly into the camera.
“Eleanor is stealing from the foundation,” he said.
“Vanessa caused the crash.”
Robert glanced toward someone outside the frame.
“If anything happens to Owen Lawson, Charles Mercer, or me, my wife is responsible.”
The video shook.
A door opened behind him.
Eleanor entered the room.
Then the recording ended.
Ethan stared at the black screen.
“My father died three weeks later.”
Emma looked at him.
“The boat accident.”
May you like
Ethan’s voice was barely audible.
“It wasn’t an accident.”
