Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
The ambulance took Emily to St. Catherine's Hospital under police escort. Richard rode beside her, holding her hand while paramedics monitored her breathing. She was severely dehydrated, weak from prolonged confinement, and suffering from an untreated infection in her left ankle.
At the hospital, Dr. Lena Brooks met Richard in the emergency department.
“She's conscious, but confused,” she said. “We'll stabilize her first. She needs fluids, blood tests, imaging, and a careful examination. We don't know yet how long she's been confined.”
“How long until I can see her?”
“When she's ready.”
Richard paced the corridor. His wedding ring was still on his finger. He looked down at it and pulled it off.
Fourteen months earlier, Emily had disappeared during a storm while returning from a charity event. Her car had been found near the river. The passenger door was open, the windshield broken, and the river search had continued for twelve days. No body had been recovered.
Richard had refused to declare her dead. Then Vanessa had entered his life, first as a consultant on the family foundation, then as a companion during his grief. She had helped organize memorial events and handled the press. Eventually, she had convinced him that continuing to search was destroying him.
He had believed her.
When Dr. Brooks finally allowed him into the room, Emily was lying beneath a white blanket. Her face was thinner than he remembered. A bruise darkened one cheek. Her hair had been cut unevenly.
He approached slowly.
“Emily?”
She opened her eyes.
“Richard.”
He sat beside her. “I'm here.”
She looked at his bare ring finger, then at the wedding band still in his pocket.
“You were getting married.”
He could not deny it. “Yes.”
“To her.”
“Yes.”
Emily turned her face toward the window.
“I thought you were dead,” he said. “I searched. I hired divers. I—”
“You stopped.”
The words were quiet, but they hurt more than shouting.
“I was told the evidence—”
“You stopped.”
Richard bowed his head. “I'm sorry.”
Emily closed her eyes. “I don't know if I can forgive you.”
“You don't have to decide anything now.”
For several minutes, neither spoke. Then Emily asked for Olivia.
Richard called the hospital liaison. Olivia arrived an hour later, still wearing her uniform beneath a borrowed coat. When Emily saw her, tears gathered in her eyes.
“You heard me.”
“I did.”
“Thank you.”
Olivia took her hand. “You don't need to thank me.”
Emily looked toward Richard. “Did you find the blue room?”
Richard frowned. “What is the blue room?”
Emily tried to sit up. Pain crossed her face.
“Don't make me explain everything now.”
Dr. Brooks stepped in and asked them to let Emily rest. Richard agreed, but the phrase stayed with him.
The blue room.
At the mansion, police officers were examining the flower wall. Forensic technicians found traces of blood on the inner panel, along with plastic ties, a water bottle, and a small battery-powered lamp. They also found a ventilation tube that had been connected to the ballroom's service duct.
The compartment was not intended for a person to remain inside for long. It had been modified to keep someone hidden, not comfortable.
Detective Mara Singh interviewed Olivia.
“You say Vanessa knew about the compartment?”
“She knew I heard someone.”
“Did she admit Emily was inside?”
“No.”
“Did she threaten you?”
Olivia showed the red mark that remained on her wrist and the photograph of the torn renovation plan.
Detective Singh examined it. “This is important. Don't delete anything from your phone.”
Then she asked about the night Emily disappeared.
Olivia had not worked at Hale House then, but she remembered the story. The newspapers had described Emily as a devoted philanthropist whose car had gone off a riverside road. Vanessa had been among the first people to comfort Richard publicly.
Detective Singh wrote down the detail.
“Who arranged the memorial?”
“Vanessa. She said she was helping.”
The detective looked up. “And who arranged the wedding wall?”
“Vanessa.”
A pattern was beginning to emerge.
At the hospital, Emily drifted in and out of sleep. When she woke again, she asked Richard to close the door.
“There's something you need to know about Vanessa,” she whispered.
May you like
Richard leaned closer.
“She didn't act alone.”
