Chapter 6 - The Interrogation Room Shakedown
The fluorescent lights of the Manhattan Precinct interrogation room buzzed with a low, oppressive hum that seemed to vibrate directly inside my skull. The walls were painted a dismal institutional grey, adorned only by a two-way mirror that I knew concealed observation booths where detectives and prosecutors watched every micro-expression.
I sat at the scratched metal table wearing my charcoal-grey blazer, my hands neatly folded in front of me. Across the table sat Detective Vance, tapping a silver pen against a yellow legal pad, while a stenographer in the corner quietly clicked away on a laptop keyboard.
'Let’s go over the timeline one more time, Ms. Cole,' Detective Vance said, his voice devoid of emotion as he clicked his pen. 'Yesterday at approximately 2:15 PM, you entered the executive suite of Cole Meridian Tower. Witnesses heard shouting, followed by physical struggle. Within minutes, Ms. Vanessa Price was rushed to City General Hospital with severe cranial trauma, and your husband — the CEO of the company — witnessed you standing over her.'
'And as I stated previously, Detective,' I replied, my voice steady and unyielding, 'I entered my own office to confront an employee regarding corporate forgery and embezzlement. Ms. Price attacked me first, clawing my neck and pulling my hair. During the ensuing struggle, she lost her footing on a glass paperweight and fell. My husband arrived mid-struggle, acted out of blind bias to protect his mistress, struck me across the face, and is now orchestrating a false criminal narrative to cover up millions of dollars in stolen corporate funds.'
Detective Vance stopped tapping his pen. He looked at me for a long moment, studying my face, searching for any sign of panic or hesitation. Finding none, he leaned back in his metal chair, crossing his arms.
'You speak very calmly for a woman facing felony assault charges, Ms. Cole,' Vance remarked. 'Especially considering your husband has provided sworn bank statements showing that you were experiencing severe financial distress due to personal gambling debts, which he claims motivated your violent outburst.'
I let out a sharp, cold laugh. 'Personal gambling debts? Ethan claims I have gambling debts?'
'According to financial records submitted by his legal team this morning,' Vance said, sliding a printed bank statement across the table. 'You withdrew five hundred thousand dollars from a joint account last month and transferred it to an offshore account in Macau.'
I picked up the paper, scanning the routing numbers and transaction metadata. A wave of disgust washed over me, instantly followed by absolute clarity. Ethan hadn't just forged my signature on the home-equity application; he had set up a mirror bank account using a forged power of attorney to frame me for financial instability.
'This is a forgery, Detective,' I said, sliding the paper back across the table with deliberate slowness. 'If you check the IP address associated with this online transfer, you won't find my home laptop. You’ll find Ethan Cole’s personal iPad, logged into our secure home network at 3:14 AM while I was asleep upstairs.'
Before Detective Vance could respond, the heavy steel door of the interrogation room swung open. A young officer rushed in, whispering urgently into Vance’s ear. Vance’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. He looked back at me, then stood up abruptly.
'Stay right here, Ms. Cole,' Vance muttered, turning on his heel and walking out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
Twenty minutes ticked by in agonizing silence. I sat alone in the stark room, my mind racing. Something had shifted. The rapid influx of new information, combined with Arthur’s digital forensics, was beginning to dismantle Ethan’s house of cards.
When the door finally opened again, it wasn't Detective Vance who walked in. It was Raymond Shaw, accompanied by a high-powered criminal defense attorney named Leonard Sterling — no relation to Marcus, thankfully — carrying a thick leather briefcase.
Raymond stopped beside my chair, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder. 'Are you alright, Claire?'
'I’m fine, Raymond,' I said, standing up and smoothing my skirt. 'Just dealing with some creative fiction courtesy of my soon-to-be-ex-husband.'
Leonard Sterling stepped forward, flashing a confident smile. 'The warrant has been recalled, Claire. Detective Vance just received an emergency injunction from the District Attorney’s office. It turns out Arthur managed to intercept the real wire transfer metadata from the Macau account and match it directly to Ethan’s personal IP address, along with an affidavit from the bank officer Ethan bribed to approve the forged power of attorney.'
I let out a long breath I felt like I’d been holding for an eternity. 'And Ethan?'
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Raymond’s eyes flashed with cold triumph. 'Ethan is currently sitting in his lawyer’s office trying to figure out why his credit cards were just frozen and why federal marshals are seizing his personal assets under suspicion of grand larceny and corporate espionage. But that’s only half the battle. Marcus Sterling has just formally notified the board that Sterling Capital is calling in our corporate debt early.'
The war wasn't over. In fact, it was just beginning.
