Detective Harris picked up my phone with gloved hands. “Thank you, Mrs. Vale.”
Mother’s mouth opened and closed helplessly. “This is private property.”
“So was your daughter’s funeral,” Elise said. “You didn’t care about that either.”
Mason pointed at me with a shaking finger. “She trapped us!”
I looked directly at him. “No. You built the trap yourself. I just stopped pretending I couldn’t see the blueprint.”
The detectives arrested Mason first.
Wire fraud. Insurance fraud. Negligent homicide investigation pending. The words thundered through my kitchen.
Mother started screaming.
“My son is a good man! Clara, tell them! Tell them this is all a misunderstanding!”
I said nothing.
Dad tried a different approach. His voice softened into something fatherly and fake. “Clara. Honey. We’re grieving too.”
That almost made me laugh.
“You called Lily’s funeral trivial.”
Mother burst into tears instantly. “I was upset! I didn’t mean it!”
“You meant every word.”
Detective Harris looked toward my parents. “We also have evidence that both of you received transfers from Mr. Mason’s company.”
Dad’s face went blank.
Mother gripped the edge of the table. “That was a gift.”
“It was money laundering,” I said. “And you were foolish enough to spend some of it at the beach resort.”
Mason shouted from the doorway while they handcuffed him. “You think you won? You’re alone now! Daniel’s gone! Lily’s gone!”
The room fell silent.
I stepped closer until he could clearly see that my tears were gone.
“No, Mason. I lost the people I loved. You lost the person who kept protecting you from consequences.”
For once in his life, he had nothing to say.
