Chapter 9 - The Confession in the Dark
The interrogation room in the federal holding facility was cold, lit only by a harsh overhead fluorescent tube that hummed monotonously. Paige sat handcuffed to the metal table, her mascara smeared across her cheeks, shivering not from cold, but from the terrifying realization that her life of pampered privilege had vanished forever.
Marcus pushed open the heavy steel door, tossing a thick dossier onto the table before pulling out a chair and sitting down opposite her.
"Your mother is currently blaming you for initiating the physical assault on Claire last night," Marcus said casually, opening a file to reveal signed deposition transcripts from the estate staff. "She claims you suggested dragging Claire into the snow to break her spirit."
Paige slammed her bound fists onto the table, her voice shrill with hysteria. "That's a lie! Mom told me to do it! She said if Claire didn't sign, we'd lose everything! And that's not even the worst of it! Mother killed Dad! She poisoned his heart medication three years ago so she could forge the probate documents before he could rewrite his will!"
In the observation room next door, listening through the encrypted audio feed, my expression remained impassioned. Dr. Mercer, standing beside me, adjusted his tablet. "The audio recording is pristine, Boss. That confession legally invalidates the entirety of Vivian's marital estate claims under Vermont's Slayer Statute."
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"Proceed with the formal arrest warrant for first-degree murder," I instructed quietly. "Let Vivian spend her remaining days in a cage fitting for her sins."
By midnight, federal marshals breached the master suite of Blackthorn House, waking Vivian from her sleep and slapping steel cuffs onto her wrists as she shrieked hysterically about her constitutional rights, her social status, and her political connections. None of them mattered anymore. The net had closed completely.
