Chapter 3
The police came that afternoon.
Two detectives. One middle-aged with tired eyes, one young and sharp.
They sat across from my hospital bed, their notebooks open.
"Ms. Hale," the older one, Detective Carter, began. "Can you tell us what happened on the night of the party?"
I told them. Every detail. The way Eleanor had cornered me. The threats. The shove. The look on her face as I fell.
Detective Carter listened without expression. The younger one, Detective Mills, scribbled furiously.
When I finished, there was a long silence.
"Ms. Hale," Carter said finally. "Mrs. Hale tells a very different story. She says you were agitated. That you'd been drinking. That you stumbled backward and she reached for you, trying to stop your fall."
"That's not true," I said, my voice rising. "I barely had one glass of champagne all night. I never stumbled. She pushed me. Hard."
"We have the toxicology report from your blood work," Mills said gently. "Your alcohol level was negligible. That part checks out."
Relief washed through me. "Then you believe me?"
Carter sighed. "The problem is witnesses. Of the forty-seven guests we've interviewed, only two say they definitely saw Mrs. Hale push you. Both are former employees of the family who were let go last year. The defense will argue they have a grudge."
"Everyone else is either on Eleanor's payroll or too scared to cross her," I said bitterly.
"Perhaps," Carter said. "But the law requires more than perhaps. Right now, it's your word against hers. And she has a very good lawyer."
Of course she did. Eleanor always had the best of everything.
"She'll try again," I said. "She knows about the will. She knows if I'm alive, she gets nothing."
Both detectives looked at each other.
"We're aware of the will," Carter said. "It does give her motive. We'll keep an eye on the situation. But for now, there's not enough evidence to press charges."
They left soon after, promising to follow up.
I stared at the ceiling, feeling hollow.
Eleanor had gotten away with it. Again.
Ethan returned a few minutes later with takeout. He took one look at my face and knew.
"Not enough evidence?" he asked.
I nodded.
He set the food down and sat beside me, taking my hand.
"Then we get evidence," he said.
"How? Everyone's too afraid to talk."
"Not everyone," Ethan said. "I've been making calls. There's someone who might talk. Someone who has no reason to protect Eleanor."
"Who?"
"Your cousin, Sophia. She was at the party. She was standing closer than most. I texted her. She's scared, but she said she might be willing to talk. If we can get her alone."
Sophia. The quiet one. The one Eleanor had always bullied and belittled. If anyone had seen something and been too afraid to say...
"When can we see her?"
"Tonight. But Claire, you're not well enough to leave the hospital."
"I'm fine," I said, trying to sit up again. The pain reminded me I was very much not fine.
"You're not," Ethan said firmly. "I'll go. I'll talk to her. I'll record the conversation with my phone. If she says anything useful, we'll take it straight to the police."
I hesitated. I didn't want Ethan anywhere near Eleanor's orbit alone. She was dangerous. And she knew Ethan was on my side.
"Be careful," I said.
"Always."
He left as the sun was setting.
I watched the sky turn orange and pink through the hospital window. Every minute that passed felt like an hour. I tried to watch TV, tried to read, but my mind kept replaying that moment on the stairs. The fall. The pain. Eleanor's smiling face.
My phone buzzed.
An unknown number.
I picked it up, my heart racing.
"Hello?"
Silence. Then a breath.
"You should have stayed dead, Claire."
Eleanor's voice. Cold. Calm. Absolutely terrifying.
"The will doesn't matter if you're not alive to claim it," she continued. "And next time, there won't be anyone there to catch you."
"Eleanor, the police—"
"The police can't protect you everywhere," she interrupted. "And they certainly can't be there when you least expect it. Enjoy the hospital, Claire. It's the safest place you'll ever be. Because the moment you walk out those doors..."
She didn't finish. She didn't need to.
The line went dead.
I dropped the phone, my hands shaking so badly I could barely hold it.
She was right.
The hospital was safe. But I couldn't stay here forever.
May you like
And Eleanor was out there.
Waiting.
