Chapter 11 - The River Road
Elias escaped through a drainage tunnel behind the warehouse.
Detective Torres fired once after he aimed a weapon at her.
The bullet struck a pipe.
Elias vanished into the wooded area beyond the property.
Officers found blood near the river road, but no body.
Mom was arrested for fraud, abuse of a vulnerable adult, kidnapping, and conspiracy.
The murder charge would depend on Samuel’s testimony and the toxicology evidence.
She asked to speak with Daniel.
He refused.
She asked to speak with me.
I almost refused too.
Then Samuel warned me that Mom still possessed information about the unknown accomplice.
The interview room was cold.
Mom sat across from me in a gray blanket.
Without her jewelry and careful makeup, she looked smaller.
“Did you replace Dad’s medication?”
She looked at the camera in the corner.
“I want immunity.”
“You don’t have anything worth immunity.”
“I know who gave Elias access to your father.”
“Who?”
“I need a lawyer.”
I stood.
Mom leaned forward.
“Judge Martin Keene.”
I stopped.
Keene had handled Dad’s estate.
He had also approved the initial order allowing Mom temporary financial authority after Dad’s death.
“Why would a judge help you?”
“He wasn’t a judge when it began.”
“What began?”
Mom looked down at her hands.
“Richard discovered money missing from a foundation account.”
“Keene had used the foundation to move payments.”
“Elias helped create false medical expenses.”
“Dad found out.”
“Yes.”
“He planned to report them.”
“He planned to destroy all of us.”
Her choice of words told me everything.
Dad had not threatened her.
He had threatened the life she believed she deserved.
“Did you kill him?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I only wanted him weak enough to postpone the meeting with the trustee.”
“Did you give him digoxin?”
“I put the pills where Elias told me.”
“Did you know they could kill him?”
“I knew they could make him sick.”
“Mom.”
She finally looked at me.
“I did not think he would die that night.”
It was not a denial.
“What about Daniel?”
“Daniel saw the bottles.”
“So you abused him.”
“I tried to keep him calm.”
“You hired Elias to terrorize him.”
“He said Daniel needed to appear unstable.”
“For the trust.”
“For survival.”
I stood again.
Mom spoke quickly.
“Keene has another copy of Richard’s investigation.”
“Where?”
“In the courthouse archives.”
“What file?”
“I don’t know.”
“Elias knew.”
A detective entered and ended the interview.
Outside, Torres was waiting.
Her left sleeve was torn, but she was unharmed.
She had heard everything through the recording system.
“We need evidence before we move against a sitting judge.”
“Mom said the records are in the courthouse.”
“Then Elias will go there.”
Daniel typed from his wheelchair.
“Already did.”
He showed us a traffic camera image.
May you like
Elias’s stolen vehicle had been photographed on River Road.
The road led directly toward Judge Keene’s private estate.
