Chapter 8 - The Voice in the Wall
The recorder was exactly where Victor said it would be.
It was old, dusty, and still blinking.
A forensic technician copied the files while Ethan, Arthur, and Detective Lena Brooks waited in Robert Vance's former office.
At 2:17 p.m., Eleanor's voice filled the room.
You don't belong in this family. And neither does that.
Then Sarah's voice.
Please, Eleanor. It's my only copy.
The tear of paper.
A gasp.
Then Eleanor again, quieter.
You're so clumsy.
Sarah screamed.
The recording captured Arthur shouting her name, the impact against his chest, and Eleanor's first lie seconds later.
She slipped.
Detective Brooks stopped the playback.
"That's enough for an arrest warrant."
Ethan stared at the wall.
"Play the part before Sarah arrived."
The technician rewound seventeen minutes.
Eleanor was talking to someone.
Male voice.
Preston Hale.
"The trust amendment is filed," he said. "If she has any kind of episode, we use the medical package."
Eleanor answered, "And if she doesn't?"
A pause.
Then Preston said, "Then the child becomes the problem."
Nobody in the room moved.
Arthur closed his eyes.
Ethan's voice turned flat.
"Again."
They played it again.
Then Eleanor said something almost lost beneath the clink of a glass.
"Robert should have changed the trust when I asked him. He always did make me do things the difficult way."
Arthur opened his eyes.
"Robert died three days after he confronted her about the missing money."
Ethan looked at him.
"You think she killed my father?"
"I think we stopped asking questions too early."
Detective Brooks immediately requested Robert's medical file.
His death had been ruled a stroke caused by long-term hypertension.
But the hospital record contained one odd detail.
The ambulance report said he had been found unconscious beside a glass of water.
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A toxicology screen had been ordered.
The result was missing.
