The Call Victoria Was Never Supposed to Make
Chapter 02 - The Call Victoria Was Never Supposed to Make
Victoria survived the ambulance ride, but the doctors placed her in a medically induced coma. Her injuries were serious, yet Detective Donnelly immediately questioned whether the staircase had caused all of them.
A bruise around Victoria’s wrist suggested someone had restrained her before the fall. The blood on the marble came from a shallow cut, but the chemical report found traces of a powerful sedative in the wineglass she had used during dinner.
Claire was taken to the station because the torn fabric remained the strongest evidence. Natalie told police that Claire had been arguing with Victoria over Ethan’s inheritance. She also produced messages that appeared to show Claire threatening to “end this family tonight.”
Claire insisted the messages were fake.
Donnelly believed there was more to the story, but belief was not proof. He asked Claire why Victoria had summoned her to the mansion.
Claire showed him the final text: I found something about Ethan’s father.
Ethan’s father, Daniel Carver, had died twelve years earlier when his car went through a bridge barrier. The death was ruled an accident. Richard took control of the family company shortly afterward and had managed Victoria’s finances ever since.
At the mansion, Margaret searched Victoria’s study. Inside a drawer she found a second phone wrapped in a scarf. Its call history showed that Victoria had contacted Donnelly three times that week but had hung up before speaking.
The phone also contained a video recorded shortly before dinner. Victoria sat at her desk, pale and frightened.
“If anything happens to me,” she said, “Richard altered Daniel’s vehicle records. He has been stealing from the company for years. Claire is the only person who helped me find the original files.”
The video ended when someone opened the study door.
Margaret brought the phone to Ethan. His face collapsed as he realized Claire had protected his mother while he had doubted her.
Then Donnelly discovered that Claire’s dress had not been torn during the fall. The cut was perfectly straight, as if made with scissors. Someone had removed the fabric earlier and placed it in Victoria’s hand.
Security footage should have revealed who entered Claire’s guest room, but thirty-seven minutes were missing from the server.
Only three people knew the security password: Victoria, Ethan, and Richard.
Ethan called his uncle. Richard answered from what sounded like a crowded airport and claimed he was already boarding a flight.
But Donnelly heard something else in the background.
A grandfather clock chimed twice.
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The same clock stood in the locked west wing of the Carver mansion.
Richard had never left the house.
