Chapter 9 - THE WOMAN WHO DISAPPEARED
Investigators determined the fire had been set inside the kitchen.
Celeste removed her electronic monitor and left it near the flames.
A neighbor’s camera captured a dark sedan leaving minutes before the alarm.
The driver was Thomas’s former attorney, Nolan Price.
Price had withdrawn from the case after prosecutors questioned his trust transactions.
He was now helping Celeste escape.
Their destination was unknown.
Thomas learned about the escape during a legal meeting.
His reaction was recorded.
He laughed.
“She will leave without him,” I said.
Detective Brooks looked at me.
“How do you know?”
“Because she left without Thomas.”
Celeste had never planned to rescue him.
She intended to take the remaining money and disappear.
The forensic audit identified a final offshore account containing twenty-six million dollars.
Only Celeste and Nolan Price had access.
Price’s passport showed frequent travel to Portugal.
A private aircraft was scheduled to leave from a small Rhode Island airfield.
Police reached the airfield before takeoff.
The aircraft was empty.
Celeste had used the reservation as a distraction.
A toll camera located the sedan traveling north toward Vermont.
The abandoned nursing facility appeared in the payment records.
Police surrounded the farmhouse connected to it.
Inside, they found medical beds, forged identification, and blank guardianship forms.
The network had used the property to hide elderly victims during disputed transfers.
Celeste was not there.
Nolan Price was found tied to a chair.
He claimed Celeste attacked him after obtaining the offshore access codes.
“She is going to the house,” he whispered.
“What house?” Brooks asked.
“The Hale house.”
The Georgian property remained sealed as a crime scene.
Celeste believed the original trust contained another account number hidden inside Richard’s study.
She did not know police had already searched it.
She also believed Evelyn had returned there.
Mom was safe at the coastal home.
We allowed Celeste to keep believing otherwise.
Police prepared surveillance around the property.
I stayed away under direct orders.
At 1:40 a.m., a figure entered through the greenhouse.
Celeste moved through the dark house carrying a flashlight and gun.
She entered my father’s study.
The hidden cameras recorded her tearing books from shelves.
Then she heard a voice through the speaker system.
“Celeste.”
She froze.
It was my mother.
Evelyn had recorded the message earlier.
“You took my food.”
“You took my medicine.”
“You took my home.”
“But you never took my mind.”
Celeste fired at the speaker.
Police entered from the hallway.
She ran toward the kitchen.
The same room where I found her standing above Mom became the place where officers surrounded her.
Celeste grabbed the wooden-handled feather duster from the evidence reconstruction table.
It had been returned temporarily for the search.
She raised it as though the object still carried authority.
Detective Brooks aimed her weapon.
“Put it down.”
Celeste laughed.
“It is only a cleaning tool.”
Rosa’s blood remained inside the wood grain.
The memory card remained inside its hollow handle.
It was evidence of assault and fraud.
Celeste held the entire case against her without understanding the irony.
She swung at the nearest officer.
Another officer used a stun device.
Celeste fell beside the overturned wheelchair preserved from the kitchen scene.
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She was arrested again.
This time, she remained in custody.
