Chapter 15 - The Last Hour The footage had no sound.
Claire lay on the mattress in the hidden room.
She was pale.
Barely conscious.
Marcus entered.
He injected something into her IV.
Then left.
For twenty-three minutes, she didn't move.
Then her hand twitched.
Claire opened her eyes.
She pulled the IV from her arm.
She tried to stand.
She fell.
The door opened.
Vanessa entered.
Claire looked at her.
Even without sound, I could see the question in my sister's eyes.
Why?
Vanessa knelt beside her.
They stared at each other.
Claire reached for her.
Vanessa pulled away.
Then she stood and left.
Claire remained alive.
For another forty-one minutes.
Then Elliot entered.
He carried a pillow.
I turned away.
“Stop.”
Ruiz stopped the video.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
“That was murder,” I whispered.
“Yes.”
The truth was no longer hidden.
Marcus had kept Claire alive long enough to protect himself.
Vanessa had abandoned her.
Elliot had made sure she never spoke.
When questioned, Elliot asked for a lawyer.
Marcus eventually confessed.
Vanessa confessed too.
But Vanessa insisted on one thing.
“I didn't plan to kill her.”
Ruiz asked:
“Does that change what happened?”
Vanessa looked through the interrogation-room glass.
“No.”
For the first time, she looked genuinely broken.
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“Claire was still alive when I left.”
That sentence followed me home.
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