Chapter 2 - The Old Woman Wasn’t Confused
Eleanor did not scream.
That surprised Vanessa.
Most people underestimated Eleanor Mercer because of the cane, the white hair, and the tremor in her hands.
Vanessa mistook physical weakness for fear.
Eleanor slowly pushed herself upright using the bed frame.
“You put something in Daniel’s food.”
Vanessa crossed her arms.
“You don’t know what you found.”
“I know enough.”
“Then give it to me.”
Eleanor closed her fingers around the empty packet.
“No.”
Vanessa stepped forward.
Eleanor raised her cane.
“Come any closer and I will hit you directly in the teeth.”
Vanessa stopped.
For one absurd second, the two women stared at each other.
Then Vanessa laughed.
“You really think anyone will believe you?”
Eleanor tilted her head.
“Why wouldn’t they?”
“Because you forget things.”
“I forget names.”
“You’ve left the stove on.”
“Once.”
“You told the gardener Thomas was coming home.”
Eleanor’s face changed at her dead son’s name.
Vanessa saw it and smiled.
“That’s right. You’re an old woman losing your mind.”
Eleanor looked down at the packet.
“And yet I found what you failed to hide.”
Vanessa lunged.
Eleanor swung the cane.
The wooden handle struck Vanessa’s forearm.
Vanessa screamed.
“Crazy old—”
Eleanor slammed the bedroom door and locked it.
Then she pulled out the emergency phone Daniel had insisted she carry.
Vanessa pounded on the door.
“Open it!”
Eleanor dialed 911.
“My name is Eleanor Mercer,” she said calmly. “A woman in my house may have drugged my son, and she is currently trying to take evidence from me.”
Vanessa stopped pounding.
The silence outside the door was worse.
Twenty minutes later, police officers searched the bedroom.
They collected the packet.
They photographed the room.
Vanessa was questioned again.
But she was not arrested.
Not yet.
The packet was damaged, and investigators needed laboratory testing.
Vanessa insisted she had never seen it before.
Meanwhile, Claire sat on the edge of a hotel bed while Megan packed a small bag for her.
“You can stay here as long as you need,” Megan said.
Claire stared at her phone.
Fourteen missed calls from Daniel.
Three messages from Eleanor.
Claire finally opened the newest one.
Please call me. Daniel’s medical test showed a sedative. I found packaging beneath your bed.
Claire’s breath caught.
Megan noticed.
“What?”
Claire handed her the phone.
Megan read the message twice.
“Oh my God.”
Claire sat completely still.
“What if he really didn’t know?”
“Then Vanessa assaulted him.”
Claire looked away.
The word hurt.
She had spent the last several hours seeing herself as the betrayed wife.
Now another possibility emerged.
Daniel might have been the victim.
“I grabbed her,” Claire whispered.
“She deserved worse.”
“No. I mean…I didn’t even ask if he was okay.”
“You were shocked.”
Claire pressed both hands over her face.
“I left him.”
Megan sat beside her.
“You saw a nightmare staged for you.”
Claire began crying.
“I should know him.”
“You do know him.”
“Then why did I believe it?”
“Because Vanessa made sure you would.”
Across town, Daniel sat in a hospital examination room while a detective named Rachel Soto spoke with him.
“Do you remember Vanessa taking you upstairs?”
“No.”
“Do you remember any sexual contact?”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“No.”
“Any physical contact at all?”
“Nothing after the kitchen.”
“Your tox screen indicates a sedative concentration consistent with significant impairment.”
Daniel looked at the floor.
Detective Soto softened her tone.
“This is not your fault.”
Daniel swallowed.
“Did she…”
“We don’t know yet.”
He closed his eyes.
“I need to know.”
“We can arrange additional testing.”
Daniel nodded.
He had never felt more helpless.
By morning, a preliminary examination found no evidence that intercourse had occurred.
It appeared Vanessa had staged the bedroom.
That should have relieved him.
Instead it made him furious.
She had stripped off his shirt.
Put him beneath the blanket.
Undressed herself.
Waited for Claire.
She had planned the exact image Claire would see.
When Daniel returned home, Eleanor sat at the breakfast table.
She looked exhausted.
He kissed her forehead.
“You should be resting.”
“So should you.”
Daniel sat opposite her.
“Why would Vanessa do this?”
Eleanor looked toward the staircase.
“Because your brother left behind more than grief.”
Daniel frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Eleanor sighed.
“Thomas came to me two weeks before he died.”
Daniel became still.
“He told me he thought Vanessa was stealing from him.”
“What?”
“He found transfers from one of his private investment accounts. Small amounts at first. Then larger ones.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because he asked me not to.”
Daniel stood.
“Mom.”
“He wanted proof.”
“And then he died.”
Eleanor nodded.
Daniel stared at her.
His anger drained into something colder.
“Was his crash really an accident?”
“I don’t know.”
That afternoon, Claire finally agreed to meet Daniel.
They chose Megan’s back porch.
No bedrooms.
No family mansion.
Neutral ground.
Daniel approached slowly.
Claire’s eyes immediately filled.
He stopped several feet away.
“I’m not going to touch you unless you want me to.”
Claire nodded.
“I saw your test results.”
“I didn’t know what she was doing.”
“I know.”
Daniel looked down.
“I keep trying to remember.”
“You don’t have to.”
“She wanted you to think I betrayed you.”
Claire’s voice cracked.
“And I did.”
“For a few hours.”
“I took off my ring.”
“I noticed.”
Claire almost laughed through her tears.
Daniel sat across from her.
“I’m angry too.”
“At me?”
“No.”
He looked at his hands.
“At myself. At her. At the fact that I couldn’t protect you from seeing that.”
Claire reached across the table.
Her fingers touched his.
Daniel looked up.
Claire whispered, “I’m sorry I left you alone.”
He closed his hand around hers.
“You were hurt.”
For the first time since the bedroom door opened, Claire believed they might survive.
Then Daniel’s phone rang.
It was Detective Soto.
“We got the first results from the packet,” she said.
Daniel put the call on speaker.
“The residue matches the same drug found in your blood.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Soto continued.
“And Mr. Mercer?”
“Yes?”
“We found one more thing.”
“What?”
“A partial pharmacy sticker.”
Daniel’s stomach tightened.
“The prescription was issued eleven months ago.”
“To Vanessa?”
“No.”
May you like
The detective paused.
“It was prescribed to your mother.”
