Chapter 16 - Twelve Seconds of Truth
The restored video wasn't beautiful. It was grainy and shot from far across the terrace. But the railing, the white wedding gown, and the two figures beside it were visible.
Victoria faced Eleanor. Eleanor tried to move away. Victoria placed both hands against her upper back and drove forward.
The old woman went over the rail.
Rose entered the frame a heartbeat later, throwing her tray aside as she ran.
For several seconds, nobody in the viewing room spoke.
"She did it," Nathaniel said at last. His voice sounded unfamiliar to him.
Torres stopped the recording. "The forensic team will verify the file and its timestamps. We don't want one careless step giving the defense a reason to attack it."
Eleanor insisted on seeing the footage despite Amelia's warning.
She turned to Rose.
"I couldn't remember the exact second," she admitted. "I remembered her anger. Then the air. I was afraid I'd be asked to prove something I couldn't describe."
"You never had to prove it to me," Rose said.
Eleanor took her hand. "You were the first person who believed what your eyes saw."
The video also showed a man leaving through the service door while the guards rushed toward the railing. Investigators identified Connor Voss by his uniform and access badge.
Victoria's attorney was informed that new evidence had been obtained. He issued a statement calling the footage misleading.
That evening, Victoria called Nathaniel from a blocked number.
"You loved me yesterday," she said. "Are you really going to let a waitress decide our marriage?"
Nathaniel looked at the dark phone screen after the call.
"No," he said to the empty room. "You decided it when you pushed my mother."
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Moments later, Torres called again. A judge had signed an arrest warrant.
But Victoria had checked out of her hotel suite twenty minutes earlier.
