Chapter 8: The Call from the Dead
Nobody moved until Detective Harris reached for Elise's phone.
“Put it on speaker,” she instructed.
Elise obeyed with trembling fingers.
The voice came through clearly.
“You've made a complete mess of everything, Elise.””
Daniel stepped toward the phone.
“Adrian?””
A pause followed.
Then the man laughed softly.
“Daniel Vane. I was wondering how long it would take before you finally joined the conversation.””
Daniel gripped the edge of the table.
“You're supposed to be dead.””
“That's what everyone was told.””
“Where are you?””
“Somewhere you should have looked six years ago.””
Harris held up a hand, signaling for Daniel to stay quiet.
“Mr. Cole,” she said, “this is Detective Harris. I'm investigating an incident at the Vane estate. I need to confirm your identity and location.””
The caller laughed again.
“An investigator. How reassuring.””
“Are you Adrian Cole?””
“You have my voice. You have my photograph. What more do you need?””
“Your present location.””
“Wouldn't you like to know?””
The line crackled.
Harris gestured to another officer, who began documenting the call and attempting to obtain the appropriate technical assistance.
“Mr. Cole,” Harris continued, “you have been officially reported dead. We need you to cooperate with the authorities.””
“Officially reported dead,” he repeated.
“Those words are doing a lot of work.””
Daniel leaned closer to the phone.
“What happened to you?””
The laughter vanished.
“You happened to me, Daniel.””
Daniel went pale.
“That's a lie.””
“Is it?””
“You stole money from our company. When the investigation began, you disappeared. Then your boat exploded.””
“My boat,” Adrian replied, “was a very convenient place for everyone to believe I died.””
Daniel shook his head.
“You arranged your own death?””
“I arranged nothing. Someone wanted me gone, and someone made sure the world believed I was gone.””
Harris intervened.
“Who wanted you gone?””
A pause.
Then Adrian said, “Ask your wife.””
Every gaze turned toward Elise.
She shook her head desperately.
“No. No, he's lying.””
Adrian continued.
“Tell him what you promised me, Elise.””
“Stop it!””
“Tell him about the money.””
“I never promised you anything!””
“You promised you'd take care of the insurance.””
Daniel slowly turned toward her.
“The insurance?””
Elise backed away.
“It's not what you think.””
“What did you promise him?””
“Daniel, please.””
“Answer me!””
Her voice cracked.
“He said he needed help. He said he had evidence that you had stolen money from the company, and he wanted me to protect myself.””
“By increasing my life insurance?””
“No!””
Adrian laughed from the phone.
“You see? She's still trying to protect herself, even now.””
Harris raised her voice.
“Mr. Cole, if you have evidence of a crime, you should provide it to the authorities. Threatening people over the phone will not help your situation.””
“Threatening people?”” Adrian replied.
“I haven't threatened anyone. Yet.””
Harris's expression hardened.
“Where are you?””
“Look outside.””
The call ended.
For several seconds, the sitting room remained silent.
Then Noah heard a shout from the corridor.
An officer rushed through the doorway.
“Detective! We've got a vehicle moving near the east gate.””
Harris immediately stood.
“Where is it now?””
“Leaving the property. The gate camera caught it.””
“Description?””
“Black sedan. No visible front plate.””
Daniel strode toward the window.
Beyond the glass, the gardens stretched into darkness. A faint red light disappeared along the road beyond the trees.
“Was he here?”” Daniel asked.
The officer shook his head.
“We can't confirm that yet.””
Harris turned to her team.
“Secure the entrances. Preserve all camera footage. Nobody deletes or copies anything without authorization.””
Then she looked at Noah.
“Mr. Reyes, you recognized the man near the office yesterday. If we show you the security footage, would you be able to identify him?””
“Yes.””
“Good. Stay with the officer until we arrange that.””
Noah nodded, but his attention remained on Elise.
She stood rigidly beside the sofa, staring at her phone as if it had burned her.
Daniel approached her.
“How long have you known Adrian was alive?””
“I don't know if he's really alive.””
“You just spoke to him.””
“That doesn't prove anything. Someone could be pretending to be him.””
“He knew about the insurance.””
“Because the information could have been stolen!””
Daniel's voice grew sharper.
“Then explain the photographs. Explain the money. Explain why you put something into that pitcher.””
Elise recoiled.
“I didn't try to poison you!””
Noah stepped forward.
“I recorded you doing it.””
She spun toward him.
“You recorded a powder going into a drink! You don't know what it was!””
“That is why the police are testing it,” Harris said.
“And that is why we need the complete truth.””
Elise's shoulders sagged.
For a moment, she looked less like the owner of the mansion and more like someone who had suddenly realized that every exit had been closed.
Then she raised her head.
“I want a lawyer.””
Martin Hale nodded.
“That's your right.””
Harris agreed that further questioning would pause until Elise had obtained independent legal advice. She also clarified that Elise was not free to simply disappear while the investigation was underway, and arrangements were made for her to remain available as required by the authorities.
As the officers escorted her to a private sitting room, she stopped beside Daniel.
“You don't understand,” she whispered.
He looked at her without moving.
“Then explain it when you have the courage.””
She stared at him for a long second before following the officers.
At midnight, the mansion's security office was crowded with monitors and tangled cables.
Noah stood behind a technician while Detective Harris reviewed the footage from the previous afternoon.
The first camera showed the front entrance.
Guests arrived. Deliveries were unloaded. Staff members crossed the courtyard carrying trays and flower arrangements.
At 1:37 p.m., a black sedan appeared on the road outside the east gate.
It stopped for eleven seconds.
Then it drove away.
The next camera covered the side entrance.
At 1:52 p.m., a man in a gray suit emerged from the corridor leading to Daniel's private office.
He carried a black leather folder.
Noah leaned closer to the monitor.
“That's him.””
Harris paused the footage.
“Are you certain?””
“Yes.””
The technician zoomed in.
The image wasn't perfect, but the man's face became clearer. The scar beneath his chin was visible, along with a distinctive notch in his left ear.
Harris studied it.
“Save a protected copy of this footage. We'll forward it to the appropriate identification team.””
Noah swallowed.
“So he was really here.””
“Someone matching the person you described was here,” Harris corrected.
“We'll continue verifying his identity.””
She switched to the next camera.
At 2:03 p.m., Collins crossed the courtyard carrying a clipboard. At 2:17, a catering employee entered through the service door.
Then, at 2:24, another figure appeared.
Elise.
She crossed the corridor carrying a small white envelope. She paused outside Daniel's office, looked behind her, and slipped inside.
Noah leaned forward.
“That's the same corridor.””
Harris nodded.
The footage showed Elise leaving seven minutes later.
Her hands were empty.
Harris asked the technician to check other angles.
One camera covered the rear staircase. Another showed the east corridor, where a door opened onto a small study used by Daniel's father when he had been alive.
At 2:31 p.m., Elise emerged from that door.
She looked toward the ceiling camera.
Then she did something that made Noah's stomach tighten.
She removed a small object from her pocket and placed it behind a loose decorative panel beside the staircase.
The technician zoomed in.
It appeared to be a key.
Harris straightened.
“Where does that staircase lead?””
Collins, who had joined them, frowned.
“To the old east wing, Detective. Most of it is unused.””
“Does the wing connect to another entrance?””
“Yes. There used to be a service passage leading toward the greenhouse.””
“Is it still accessible?””
Collins looked uncomfortable.
“Technically, yes. The door is supposed to be locked.””
“Supposed to be?””
Collins stared at the screen.
“I haven't checked it recently.””
Harris turned to the officer beside her.
“Let's inspect the east wing.””
They moved through the mansion with two security guards leading the way. The old staircase smelled of dust and damp plaster. Several framed paintings hung crookedly on the walls, and the carpet had faded to a dull red.
At the bottom of the stairs, Harris found the decorative panel.
Behind it was a key.
Collins examined it with a trembling hand.
“That's the old service key.””
The officer tried it in the door at the end of the passage.
The lock clicked.
Beyond it lay a narrow corridor that ended near the greenhouse.
On a shelf beside the door sat a paper cup of coffee, still half full.
It was cold.
Beside it was a small black notebook.
Harris opened the notebook carefully.
The first few pages contained handwritten dates, addresses, and brief entries. The writing was cramped and hurried.
Noah recognized Daniel's name.
Then he saw Elise's.
The entry beside her name contained a date, a sum of money, and three words.
*Final payment pending.*
Harris turned the page.
There was another entry.
*Daniel. October fifteenth.*
Beneath it, someone had written:
*No mistakes this time.*
Noah stared at the notebook.
“What does that mean?””
Harris closed it.
“We'll determine that after the evidence is examined.””
She ordered photographs of the scene and had the notebook secured.
Then the technician's radio crackled.
A voice from the security office announced that another recording had been found.
It showed someone entering the east wing earlier that morning.
Harris returned to the monitor room with Noah and watched the footage.
At 5:18 a.m., a figure wearing a dark hooded coat entered through the service door.
The person glanced toward the camera, then removed the hood.
The face was visible for only a few seconds.
But there was no mistaking the scar beneath the chin.
May you like
Adrian Cole was alive.
And he had spent the entire morning inside Daniel Vane's house.
