Chapter 10 - Emily Wakes.
Arthur Bell looked twenty years older than the man in Calder's holiday photographs.
Detective Price allowed Gabe to watch the interview from behind one-way glass because Emily was the victim and Gabe had become a relevant witness.
Arthur kept both hands flat on the table.
There was no silver-tipped cane beside him.
He had surrendered it as evidence.
"I didn't hurt Emily," he said before Price asked the first question.
"Then tell me who did."
Arthur stared at the tabletop.
"I don't know exactly."
Price placed Emily's phone in an evidence bag between them.
"Why did you have this?"
Arthur closed his eyes.
He explained that Emily had confronted him six weeks earlier about suspicious payments.
At first, he denied everything.
Then she showed him enough records to prove she could take the story outside Calder.
Arthur panicked.
Not because he feared prison, he claimed, but because he feared Julian Vale.
"Julian controlled the operations accounts," Arthur said.
"Richard controlled the pressure around the project."
"And you?"
"I signed what they put in front of me."
Price's expression hardened.
"That isn't innocence."
"I know."
Arthur's voice broke.
He had agreed to meet Emily in the garage Friday night and give her the original ledger.
Cole, Mason, and Tyler arrived because Julian told them Emily was trying to ruin their families.
They confronted her in the elevator.
Arthur followed, hoping to stop the argument.
When the doors opened on Level Four, Julian was waiting.
Gabe's entire body went still behind the glass.
"Julian was there?" Price asked.
Arthur nodded.
"He demanded the envelope."
"Then what happened?"
Arthur stared toward the observation window without knowing Gabe stood behind it.
"Emily refused."
His voice dropped.
"Everyone started talking at once."
"Did anyone touch her?"
Arthur hesitated.
"Julian grabbed the envelope."
"And Emily?"
"She pulled it back."
Arthur swallowed.
"She stepped away from him near the service stairwell."
Price waited.
"Did he push her?"
"I didn't see a push."
"What did you see?"
"I saw Julian reach for her."
Arthur looked sick.
"Then I heard her fall."
The room became silent.
Arthur said Cole immediately called emergency services despite Julian ordering everyone to leave.
That explained why Emily had whispered that Cole was not the man behind him.
Cole had lied afterward, but he had also made the call that brought help.
"Why take Emily's phone from the hospital?" Price asked.
Arthur looked ashamed.
"Julian thought she had recorded the meeting."
"Did she?"
"I don't know."
"Why bring it back now?"
Arthur raised his eyes.
"Because Julian came to my house this morning."
"What did he want?"
"The ledger."
"And when you said you didn't have it?"
Arthur's hands trembled.
"He said Emily should have stayed quiet the first time."
Gabe left before he heard more.
He returned to the hospital with rage burning beneath every controlled breath.
Dana met him outside Emily's room.
This time, she was smiling.
"She's awake."
Gabe entered slowly.
Emily's eyes were open.
Weak, frightened, but open.
He took her hand.
"Hey, Em."
She stared at his tattoos and gave the faintest hint of a smile.
"You still look ridiculous."
Gabe laughed once, and the sound nearly broke him.
"Good to have you back too."
Her expression changed.
"Did they find the locker?"
"Yes."
Relief passed across her face.
Then she whispered something Gabe did not expect.
"The ledger isn't the real evidence."
He leaned closer.
"What is?"
Emily looked toward the door.
"The elevator recording."
Gabe frowned.
"The video was deleted."
"Not that recording."
May you like
Her fingers tightened around his.
"My necklace."
