Chapter 7 - The Night Anna Died.
Anna's face filled the tablet screen.
For Ethan, the room disappeared.
There was no library.
No police officer.
No sunrise beginning beyond the tall windows.
There was only the woman he had buried three years earlier looking directly at him as if time had folded in half.
Her hair was pulled into a loose knot.
She wore the navy sweater Ethan had once teased her for owning in three identical versions.
He remembered touching that sweater.
He remembered Anna rolling her eyes at him.
He remembered not knowing he was living inside moments that would later become sacred.
On the recording, Anna looked exhausted.
"If you're watching this, Richard knows I found Claire."
She glanced toward a door outside the camera frame.
"And Ethan, whatever they tell you, do not believe my crash was an accident."
Sophie squeezed Ethan's hand.
He wanted to stop the video.
He wanted to watch it forever.
Anna continued.
"Richard has been altering drafts connected to my family trust."
"He uses consulting invoices to hide transfers."
"Claire Arden helped him set up some of the foreign entities."
At the name, Sophie looked toward the dining room where Celeste was still being watched by an officer.
Ethan's jaw tightened.
Anna drew another breath.
"Claire contacted me two weeks ago."
"She says she wants out."
"She says Richard is planning something around Sophie's residency clause."
"I don't know whether to believe her."
Ethan looked at Bell.
Celeste had told the truth about that part.
Anna went on.
"I made copies of everything I could find."
"The originals are not all in one place."
"If the blue box is gone, check Sophie's music box."
Sophie's eyes widened.
"My ballerina box?"
Ethan looked down.
"You still have it?"
Sophie nodded quickly.
"It's in my old nursery closet."
Bell lifted one finger, asking them silently to keep watching.
On screen, Anna's expression changed.
Fear entered it fully now.
"Richard knows I'm meeting the insurer tomorrow."
"He knows I asked someone to look at my car."
"He joked yesterday that accidents happen to people who make enemies."
"I am probably overreacting."
Anna gave a tiny, unhappy smile.
Ethan's throat closed.
That smile was so like her.
Even frightened, she had been embarrassed by the possibility of seeming dramatic.
"If I am overreacting, I will delete this tomorrow and you will never see it."
"If I am not..."
She stopped.
Her eyes filled but she did not cry.
"Tell Sophie I was trying to protect her."
Sophie pressed both hands over her mouth.
Ethan paused the video.
He could not breathe properly.
"Daddy?"
He crouched immediately.
Sophie's eyes were wet.
"Mommy knew she might die?"
Ethan searched for an answer that did not lie and did not crush her.
"She knew she was worried."
"Did she know?"
"No one knows exactly when they're going to die."
Sophie stared at the frozen image of Anna.
"She was scared."
"Yes."
Ethan wrapped an arm around her.
"But she was thinking about you."
Sophie nodded against him.
Bell quietly took the tablet.
"There's more."
Ethan looked up.
"Not with Sophie here."
Sophie pulled away.
"I want to hear Mommy."
Ethan hesitated.
Bell crouched to Sophie's level.
"Some of what your mom recorded is grown-up evidence."
"Does it say bad things?"
"Yes."
"About Celeste?"
"About several people."
Sophie considered that.
Then she held out her arms to Mrs. Alvarez, who had entered quietly.
"I'll go get my music box."
Bell shook her head gently.
"We'll get it together later."
Sophie nodded.
Before leaving, she looked at Ethan.
"Don't let them erase Mommy."
"I won't."
After Sophie left, Bell resumed the recording.
Anna's tone had changed.
She was no longer speaking as a wife or mother.
She sounded like someone creating a record.
"Richard gave me a revised trust draft on May third."
"The residency language was changed from ninety days to thirty."
"He said the change came from tax counsel."
"Tax counsel denies it."
"Claire says Richard plans to move Sophie using a temporary guardian if anything happens to me or Ethan."
Ethan's skin turned cold.
The plan had existed before Anna died.
Not improvised after.
Not created because Celeste later married him.
Before.
Anna continued.
"Claire also says Richard keeps duplicate identity documents for people he uses in foreign transactions."
"One is hers."
"The number is 047113."
That explained the photograph.
Anna had written the passport number as a physical backup.
If the digital evidence vanished, Ethan would still have a way to identify Claire.
The video shifted slightly as Anna reached toward the camera.
Then she stopped.
"One more thing."
Her voice dropped.
"Claire claims Richard has someone inside the company who can copy Ethan's signature and access travel records."
"I don't know who."
"If I'm wrong about Claire, then she may be part of it."
"If I'm right about her, Richard will hurt her too."
The video ended.
Ethan stared at the black screen.
Bell spoke first.
"That is enough to reopen several questions."
"Several?"
"The trust fraud."
"The identity fraud."
"The attempted removal of Sophie."
"And Anna's crash."
Ethan looked toward the dining room.
"I want to talk to Celeste."
Bell shook her head.
"Not alone."
"I don't care."
"I do."
She held his gaze.
"If she is involved in Anna's death, you do not help Sophie by turning this into a confrontation nobody can use."
Ethan hated the logic because it was correct.
Celeste agreed to another interview after hearing that Anna's video had been recovered.
This time she looked less polished.
Her robe had been replaced by dark slacks and a sweater brought from an untouched guest closet.
Her hair was no longer neat.
She looked younger and more dangerous without the elegance.
Bell set the tablet on the table.
"Anna said you contacted her."
Celeste stared at the screen.
"She recorded that?"
"Yes."
Celeste closed her eyes.
For several seconds, she seemed relieved.
Ethan saw it.
"You wanted her to have proof you tried to help."
Celeste opened her eyes.
"I wanted Richard stopped."
"Then why marry me?"
Her expression tightened.
"That came later."
"Through Richard."
"Yes."
"After Anna died."
"Yes."
"And you never thought to tell me my closest friend might have arranged my wife's death?"
"I didn't know that."
"You knew she was afraid of him."
"I knew Anna believed he was threatening her."
"That is not better."
Celeste looked toward Bell.
"Richard told me Anna had become unstable."
Ethan almost stood.
Bell's glance stopped him.
Celeste continued.
"He said she was accusing everyone."
"You had spoken to Anna yourself."
"Yes."
"Did she seem unstable?"
"No."
"Then why believe Richard?"
Celeste's answer was almost too quiet to hear.
"Because I was afraid of him."
Ethan stared at her.
"You were afraid of him, so you married me when he told you to?"
"I did not marry you because he told me to."
"Then why?"
For the first time, Celeste looked ashamed.
"Because it was supposed to be temporary."
Ethan felt something twist inside him.
"What was?"
"Getting close to you."
Bell leaned forward.
"Explain."
Celeste rubbed her hands together.
"Richard wanted access to the household."
"He wanted to know whether Anna had left anything with you."
"He wanted Sophie's routines."
"He wanted your travel schedule."
Ethan's face went cold.
"So you were sent into my life."
"Yes."
"And Sophie's."
Celeste looked down.
"Yes."
"Then you married me."
"I did."
"Was that part of the assignment?"
Celeste did not answer quickly enough.
Ethan stood.
Bell allowed it this time.
He walked to the window and looked out at the wet lawn.
Behind him, Celeste spoke.
"I did not kill Anna."
He turned.
"Did Richard?"
"I don't know."
"Did he ever admit it?"
"No."
"Did you ever ask?"
Celeste's mouth tightened.
"Once."
"What did he say?"
"He said the world solves problems for people willing to wait."
Bell wrote the sentence down.
"Where were you the morning Anna died?"
Celeste went still.
That stillness told Ethan there was another secret.
Bell saw it too.
"Claire."
Celeste flinched at the old name.
"Where were you?"
"Driving toward Greenwich."
"Why?"
"To warn Anna."
Ethan stared at her.
"About what?"
"Richard knew about the insurer meeting."
Bell's pen stopped.
"Did you reach Anna?"
"No."
"Did you reach the crash scene?"
Celeste looked down.
"Yes."
Ethan's body went rigid.
"You were there?"
"After the crash."
"How long after?"
"I don't know."
"Were emergency crews there?"
"No."
The room changed.
Bell's voice became extremely careful.
"Was Anna alive?"
Celeste's eyes filled with something that looked like fear.
"I don't know."
"That is not an answer."
Celeste whispered, "She was moving."
Ethan gripped the back of a chair.
Bell asked, "Did you call 911?"
Celeste looked at Ethan.
"No."
The word hit him like a physical blow.
"Why not?"
Celeste's voice broke for the first time.
"Because Richard was calling me."
Bell stared at her.
"And what did you do?"
May you like
Celeste swallowed.
"I ran."
