Chapter 3: The Hunt Begins
Arthur didn't sleep.
Not for a single minute.
He replayed Lily's words over and over.
She pushed Grandma.
Children lied about broken toys.
Children lied about cookies.
They did not invent murder.
Especially not Lily.
She had always been painfully honest.
At sunrise, Arthur quietly entered Eleanor's private study.
His mother trusted almost no one.
Which meant she always kept records.
Inside the bottom drawer of her antique mahogany desk, he found a locked steel box.
The key was hidden beneath an old family photograph.
Inside were legal documents.
Property transfers.
Bank statements.
Private investigator reports.
One file carried a single handwritten note.
Victoria Hayes.
Arthur opened it.
His blood turned cold.
Victoria wasn't an architect.
She had lied.
Her college diploma was fake.
Her previous identity had legally disappeared six years earlier.
Three wealthy businessmen she had dated were now dead.
Every death ruled accidental.
Every inheritance transferred before the funeral.
Arthur slowly leaned back in his chair.
His mother hadn't been paranoid.
She had been hunting a predator.
Across town...
Victoria entered a quiet coffee shop.
A bald man wearing sunglasses sat alone.
Without greeting her, he slid an envelope across the table.
"Plane tickets."
"You leave tonight."
Victoria didn't touch it.
"The little girl talked."
The man sighed.
"Then we solve the problem."
Victoria stared through the café window.
For the first time...
She looked genuinely afraid.
That afternoon, Detective Hale returned with a forensic report.
"The fingerprints on the railing belong to Eleanor..."
He paused.
"...and Victoria."
Arthur looked up.
"So?"
Marcus placed another photograph on the table.
Bruises.
Fresh finger-shaped bruises around Eleanor's upper arm.
"Someone held her before she fell."
Arthur's jaw tightened.
"It was murder."
Marcus nodded once.
"I believe so."
"But belief isn't enough for court."
"We need proof."
Neither man noticed the security camera mounted above the front entrance.
May you like
Someone else was watching them.
Live.
