Chapter 3 - HIS MOTHER KNEW EVERYTHING
The room became completely silent.
David still held the phone against his ear.
His mother was waiting for an answer.
"David?"
He looked at Detective Carter.
Then at Jessica.
Then finally at me.
I could see the calculation happening behind his eyes.
He was trying to decide which lie could save him.
"I'm handling it," he finally said.
His mother's voice sharpened.
"You said she'd be dead by now."
Carter's eyes narrowed.
David immediately ended the call.
Too late.
Every word had already been recorded.
Detective Carter took the phone from his hand.
"Thank you."
David lunged forward.
"You can't take my phone."
Carter stepped back.
"Actually, we can."
The second detective placed handcuffs on David.
He didn't resist.
Not because he was suddenly cooperative.
Because he was terrified.
His mother had just exposed herself.
And David knew it.
Jessica stood against the wall, trembling.
"David..."
He looked at her.
"Don't talk."
She stared at him.
"You told me your mother hated your wife."
David said nothing.
"You told me she didn't know anything."
Still nothing.
Jessica's voice cracked.
"You lied to me too."
David finally looked at her.
"I did what I had to do."
Those words changed everything.
Jessica's expression hardened.
"What did you do?"
David stared at the floor.
"I protected my future."
She laughed bitterly.
"Your future?"
She pointed toward me.
"You were killing her."
David looked at me.
For the first time, his voice softened.
"I never wanted it to become like this."
I almost laughed.
Never wanted it?
He had recorded my decline.
He had measured my symptoms.
He had calculated when I would die.
He had brought his mistress into our bedroom to choose curtains.
He hadn't lost control.
He had planned everything.
Detective Carter turned toward Jessica.
"You said you wanted to cooperate?"
She nodded.
"Then start talking."
David immediately snapped.
"Jessica, don't."
She looked at him.
"You promised me everything."
"I'll still give you everything."
"You can't."
Her eyes moved toward the handcuffs.
"You don't have anything."
David's face tightened.
She continued.
"You told me your wife had no family."
"She doesn't."
"Then who is Samuel?"
David froze.
Samuel stepped forward.
"Her attorney."
Jessica looked confused.
"She told me she didn't have an attorney."
David stared at her.
"She didn't."
Samuel smiled.
"That's where you're wrong."
He walked toward my bedside.
"For the last six months, I've been representing her."
David looked at me.
"Six months?"
I slowly moved my eyes toward the computer.
The screen lit up.
Seven months.
David's jaw dropped.
Samuel continued.
"Seven months ago, your wife became suspicious."
David shook his head.
"Impossible."
"She discovered unusual withdrawals from a corporate account."
David looked at Jessica.
Jessica looked back.
"That was you," she whispered.
David didn't answer.
Samuel opened another folder.
"Two hundred and eighty thousand dollars."
Carter looked at David.
"Where did that money go?"
David remained silent.
Samuel answered for him.
"Luxury purchases. Jewelry. Hotels. Private flights. Gifts."
Jessica's face changed.
"You said those were from your company."
David closed his eyes.
"They were."
"No," Samuel said.
"They weren't."
He placed another document on the table.
"They belonged to my client."
Jessica looked at David.
"You stole from her?"
David finally exploded.
"I was going to pay it back!"
Carter stared at him.
"With what?"
David had no answer.
Then the bedroom door opened.
An officer entered carrying another file.
"Detective, we found the source of the burner phone."
Carter looked up.
"Where?"
"The phone was purchased under a company account."
"Which company?"
The officer hesitated.
"Whitmore Architectural Holdings."
David's face went blank.
That company had been one of the businesses he believed he controlled.
He didn't.
I had created it years before we met.
David had access to the surface accounts.
Not the controlling structure.
Carter looked at Samuel.
"Who owns it?"
Samuel looked at me.
Then said:
"Mrs. Whitmore."
David stared at me.
"You..."
My eye-tracking computer activated.
One word appeared.
Always.
David's expression collapsed.
Then his mother's name appeared on the screen of the seized phone.
She was calling again.
Carter answered.
"Mrs. Whitmore?"
Silence.
Then:
"Who is this?"
"Detective Carter."
Another silence.
"Where is my son?"
"He's in custody."
The woman's breathing changed.
"Then you don't understand."
"Understand what?"
She whispered:
"David isn't the one who started this."
Carter glanced toward me.
"Who did?"
The line went dead.
Everyone stared at each other.
Then Samuel slowly closed the folder.
"There it is."
Carter frowned.
"What?"
"The part my client was afraid of."
I stared at him.
He looked directly into my eyes.
"Your husband may have poisoned you."
He paused.
May you like
"But someone else may have ordered him to do it."
And suddenly the story became much bigger than David.
