Chapter 14 - The Night at the Boathouse
The car across from Renee's house drove away when police approached, but its license plate led to a rental paid for by a company linked to Elliot. Officers moved Ellie and Graham to a protected location before dawn.
Mara found Margaret Bell that afternoon at a roadside motel. Her wrist was in a splint, and she had bruises along one cheek. She'd escaped when a driver tried to force her car into a concrete divider.
“I wasn't going to let them find me twice,” she told the detective.
Margaret had kept something for four years: a memory card Claire had asked her to preserve. It came from a boathouse security camera Graham hadn't known existed.
The video was grainy and dark, but clear enough to show Claire arguing with Elliot at the upper landing. Victoria stood beside the doorway.
Claire held a folder tight against her chest.
Elliot grabbed it. She pulled back. Then he shoved her.
Graham, watching at the police station, made a sound that didn't resemble a word.
The camera lost Claire behind the railing. The next frame showed Elliot looking down. Victoria stepped forward, reached for the wall phone, and hesitated.
She never picked it up.
“Look at the time,” Mara said.
The camera clock showed 10:13 p.m. The first emergency call hadn't been placed until 10:32.
“Nineteen minutes,” Graham whispered.
Margaret wiped her face. “Claire had threatened to go public the next morning. I thought that video might get me killed. Then Victoria told me she knew where my grandchildren went to school.”
Mara put a hand over Margaret's trembling fingers. “You did the right thing bringing this in.”
A technician entered with the enhanced audio from Claire's recorder.
“There is one more line,” he said. “The original wasn't actually finished. Someone stopped it manually.”
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He pressed play, and Elliot's voice came out of the speaker.
“Call nobody until I'm gone.”
