Chapter 16 - THE SHOT THROUGH THE WINDOW
No one was hit. Police found the sedan twenty miles away, abandoned and burning. The shooter was gone.
Margaret was still missing.
But the attack changed the case.
Raymond stopped bargaining.
He gave detectives passwords, account numbers, old phone records, and the names of three people Margaret had paid to keep quiet over the years.
One was an insurance adjuster from Charles's crash.
One was a former foundation bookkeeper.
The third was a private nurse who had worked in Ava's home for six months after the accident.
The nurse, Teresa Cole, agreed to talk.
She told investigators Margaret instructed her to keep Ava "calm" with medication whenever Ava asked questions about the crash.
"I thought the prescriptions were legitimate," Teresa said. "Then the dosages kept changing without new orders. I quit."
"Why didn't you report it?" Maya asked.
Teresa looked ashamed. "Margaret threatened my license."
She had saved copies of text messages.
One read: IF AVA BECOMES AGITATED, INCREASE THE EVENING DOSE. ETHAN DOESN'T NEED ANOTHER CRISIS.
Ethan read it twice.
That night Ethan sat beside Ava.
"I kept thinking trusting my mother made me a good son."
Ava looked out the window.
"Trust without questions made you easy to use."
"I know."
He didn't ask her to soften it.
That mattered.
Ava reached for his hand, not as forgiveness, but as a beginning.
Then Lena's phone buzzed.
A security-camera alert from the Hale estate.
Someone had entered through the rear conservatory door.
The camera image loaded slowly.
Margaret stood in the dark hallway wearing a raincoat.
In one hand was a metal gas can.
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In the other was a box of matches.
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