Chapter 17 - CAMILLE’S LAST BARGAIN
Camille refused to speak again without immunity.
The investigators would not promise it.
So she asked to speak with me.
We sat across from each other inside the Ashford Club library while Noah and Marlene were questioned in separate rooms.
For years, I had imagined confronting her.
I thought I would ask when the affair began or whether she laughed after returning jewelry Noah purchased with company funds.
None of those questions mattered anymore.
“What did they bury?” I asked.
Camille looked toward the closed door.
“Rebecca’s car wasn’t recovered from the bottom of the cliff.”
“That’s impossible.”
“The police recovered a car. It wasn’t hers.”
Noah’s father owned several identical black sedans. After the crash, the family replaced the damaged vehicle with another car and altered the identification numbers.
“What happened to Rebecca’s real car?”
“It’s beneath the unfinished pool at the coastal resort.”
My stomach turned cold.
“The resort foundation was poured three days after she died.”
Camille nodded.
She claimed she followed Rebecca into the garage to retrieve the documents. She carried the tire iron because Noah told her Rebecca had locked the evidence inside her trunk.
Rebecca escaped before Camille reached her.
On the coastal road, Marlene’s vehicle struck the rear of Rebecca’s car.
Not hard enough to force it over the cliff.
But enough to make Rebecca stop.
Noah arrived moments later.
“What did he do?”
Camille lowered her eyes.
“He pulled Rebecca from the car. They argued. She said she was going to you.”
“And then?”
“I heard her scream.”
Camille insisted she did not see what happened next. Marlene ordered her to drive away and remain silent.
The next morning, Noah told her Rebecca’s car had gone over the cliff.
“Why did you stay with him?”
“At first, fear. Then money. Eventually I couldn’t tell the difference.”
She offered to show investigators where the car was buried.
In exchange, she wanted me to support a reduced sentence.
“I won’t decide your punishment,” I said.
“Then why should I help you?”
“Because Rebecca deserves to come home.”
For the first time, Camille’s composure broke.
She whispered the exact location beneath the pool.
Then she added one final warning.
“Noah knows Paige gave you the sketchbook.”
A crash came from the hallway.
Noah’s interview room was empty.
May you like
The window stood open.
And Paige was gone.
