Chapter 12 - THE FIFTH SHADOW
Andrew replayed the audio twenty-three times.
Caroline.
Lucinda.
Alex.
Wind.
Movement.
And possibly someone else.
At first he heard nothing.
Then Detective Cole isolated a section near the end.
A faint sound emerged.
A man’s voice.
“Stop.”
Andrew stared at the waveform.
“Who is that?”
Cole shook her head.
“We don’t know.”
The voice appeared only once.
One word.
But Lucinda had been telling the truth about one thing.
Another person might have been present.
Andrew immediately thought of Martin.
But mobile records placed Martin almost forty miles away until 10:03 p.m.
Nathan Brooks had been in New York.
Estate staff had already been interviewed.
Then Andrew remembered the gardener.
Samuel Grant.
Samuel had worked for the family for eighteen years.
He had resigned one week after Caroline died.
His statement said he left the estate at 7:00 p.m.
Security records showed his truck exiting at 7:12.
But those records came from a gate system later found to have missing data.
Cole located Samuel in Maine.
He refused to speak by phone.
Andrew drove there personally.
Samuel lived in a small farmhouse outside Portland.
When he opened the door and saw Andrew, his expression collapsed.
“I knew this day would come.”
Andrew said nothing.
Samuel let him inside.
They sat at a wooden kitchen table.
Andrew placed the audio player between them.
He played the isolated voice.
Samuel closed his eyes.
“That’s me.”
Andrew’s hands curled into fists.
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“You lied to police.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Samuel looked ashamed.
“Because Lucinda threatened my daughter.”
Andrew leaned forward.
“What happened that night?”
Samuel rubbed his hands together.
“I was repairing irrigation valves below the west terrace.”
“I heard shouting.”
“I went upstairs.”
“I saw Mrs. Whitmore and Lucinda fighting near the railing.”
“Caroline?”
“Yes.”
“Lucinda had scissors.”
Andrew’s heart pounded.
“What did she do?”
“She cut the decorative cable.”
“Before Caroline fell?”
Samuel nodded.
“She cut it while Caroline was holding the railing.”
Andrew stopped breathing.
Samuel continued.
“Caroline tried to move away.”
“Lucinda grabbed her necklace.”
“The chain snapped.”
“Caroline stumbled.”
“I yelled for them to stop.”
Andrew whispered.
“Then what?”
Samuel’s eyes filled with tears.
“Lucinda shoved her.”
The room became silent.
Andrew stared at him.
“You saw it.”
“Yes.”
“You saw my sister push my wife.”
Samuel nodded.
“I ran toward them.”
“But it was too late.”
Andrew stood abruptly and walked to the window.
Seven months.
Samuel had known.
Andrew turned.
“Why didn’t you tell the police?”
Samuel opened a drawer.
He removed an old envelope.
Inside were photographs of his daughter leaving school.
Exactly like the photograph sent of Alex.
“Lucinda came to my house before detectives interviewed me.”
Samuel’s voice shook.
“She knew where my daughter lived.”
“She knew where my grandson went to daycare.”
“She told me Caroline was already gone.”
“She said my family did not have to join her.”
Andrew stared at him.
Samuel pushed another item across the table.
A small digital recorder.
“I started recording after she threatened me.”
Andrew pressed play.
Lucinda’s voice filled the room.
“You tell police you left at seven.”
Samuel answered, “You killed her.”
Lucinda replied calmly.
“No.”
“Gravity killed her.”
May you like
Andrew looked at Samuel.
That was the final piece.
