Chapter 12 - THE WOMAN WHO WORE THE VEIL|
Celeste Vaughn was found at 3:20 a.m. in an abandoned maintenance building two miles from the freight terminal.
She was alive, furious, and covered in dust. Her wedding gown had been torn at the hem, and one of her diamond earrings was missing.
She refused to answer questions until her attorney arrived.
When detectives asked why she had been at the terminal, she said she had been kidnapped.
When they asked who had taken her, she said she could not identify the person.
When they showed her the photographs of Nathan, she closed her eyes.
That was the first time she had stopped performing.
By morning, she was in a secure interview room at the county police headquarters. Her attorney sat beside her while a detective placed a recorder on the table.
“Ms. Vaughn, we have evidence that you met Victor Sloane at the Ashford Estate before the wedding.”
“He was a vendor.”
“We have video showing him handing you a vial.”
“I told you, it was a flower treatment.”
“We also have evidence of financial transfers between companies associated with you and an account linked to the Hawthorne family trust.”
Celeste's attorney intervened.
“My client will not answer questions about financial matters without reviewing the documents.”
The detective nodded.
“Then let's discuss the kidnapping.”
Celeste's jaw tightened.
“Finally.”
“Why did the person who took you ask where you had hidden the vial?”
She said nothing.
“Why did you tell Adrienne that an intruder had searched your room for the bottle?”
“I was frightened.”
“Why did you claim the man came through the balcony when there was no evidence of an entry from outside?”
Her attorney leaned forward.
“We're done.”
The detective slid one final photograph across the table.
It showed Celeste and Nathan entering a private club eight years earlier.
Celeste stared at it.
“Who gave you this?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She looked at the photograph as if it had opened a door she had spent years trying to keep shut.
“Because if you know about that night, you know nothing about what happened afterward.”
The detective waited.
Celeste's attorney whispered to her, but she did not respond.
Finally, she said, “Nathan Hawthorne was alive when I met him. He was injured, frightened, and furious at his family. He told me his brother had destroyed his life.”
“Did you believe him?”
“At first.”
“What changed?”
Celeste's expression hardened.
“Money changes what people believe.”
She explained that Nathan had contacted her through an intermediary after she began working in financial consulting. He claimed that Adrienne had stolen his inheritance and that their father had arranged the cover-up to protect the company.
He offered Celeste a share of the money if she helped him regain control.
At the time, she had been drowning in debt. She accepted.
But Nathan's plans kept changing.
He wanted records. Then signatures. Then control of a trust. He insisted that Adrienne had to be removed from the company.
Celeste claimed she had never agreed to murder.
The detective asked about the vial.
She looked away.
“I thought it was meant to make him ill. Something temporary. Something that would force him to step aside.”
“You expected your groom to become incapacitated on his wedding day?”
“I expected him to survive.”
The words sounded rehearsed, but the fear beneath them did not.
“Who told you what was in the vial?”
“Victor.”
“Did he provide a label?”
Celeste nodded.
“Did you read it?”
“Yes.”
“What did it say?”
She swallowed.
“I don't remember.”
The detective closed the folder.
“You're telling us that you accepted an unknown substance from a man connected to a hidden financial conspiracy, planned to use it on your future husband, and now claim you believed it was harmless.”
Celeste lifted her chin.
“I did not plan to kill Adrienne.”
“Then why were death-related documents prepared in your suite?”
She stared at the table.
For a moment, the room was silent.
Then Celeste whispered, “Because Nathan said Adrienne would never willingly give up the company.”
The detective leaned forward.
“And what did Nathan promise you?”
Celeste's eyes filled with tears.
“He promised that after Adrienne was gone, no one would ever be able to hurt me again.”
The detective switched off the recorder.
When he left the room, Celeste sat motionless beside her attorney.
She had spent years believing she could bargain with dangerous men and remain untouched by their plans.
Now she understood that she had never been a partner.
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She had been a useful witness.
And the man who had promised her everything was still missing.
