Chapter 2 - IN THE DARK

The silence in the dining room was deafening.

The only sound was the ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner.

Margaret stared at the glowing phone on the table. The reality of what she had just done washed over her. She had confessed on tape.

Vance suddenly stood up, his chair scraping violently backward.

“No,” Vance said, his eyes wild. “No, I’m not going to prison for you, Margaret.”

Before anyone could react, Vance lunged across the table. He snatched my phone.

Adrian grabbed his arm, but Vance slammed his elbow into Adrian’s face. Adrian stumbled back, blood pouring from his nose.

Vance ran toward the fireplace. He raised his arm, preparing to smash the phone against the stone hearth.

“Vance, stop!” I shouted.

“It’s over!” Vance screamed.

“Vance, look at the bottle!” I yelled.

He froze, his arm still raised. He looked back at the table.

“Look at the wax, Vance. Look closely.”

Vance narrowed his eyes.

“It’s sloppy,” I said. “I transferred your wax seal to a cheap bottle of house red. That isn't the poisoned Margaux. Adrian was never in danger.”

Vance stared at the bottle, his mind racing.

“Where is the real one?” he demanded.

“I hid it,” I lied. “And if you smash that phone, I will tell the police exactly where it is. But if you hand the phone back, you can take a plea deal. You can testify against Margaret.”

Vance looked at Margaret. She looked back at him with absolute venom.

“You pathetic coward,” Margaret spat.

Vance lowered his arm. He looked at the phone in his hand. He looked at Adrian, who was wiping blood from his face, ready to fight again.

Vance made his choice.

He threw the phone onto one of the velvet armchairs.

Then he grabbed the fake bottle of wine from the table and sprinted for the door.

“Let him go,” Adrian said, grabbing my arm as I moved to stop him. “The police are right outside. He won't get far.”

We watched from the window as Vance sprinted out the front doors, shoving past a detective.

He ran toward his parked Mercedes.

But the police were faster. Two officers tackled him to the gravel before he could get the door open. The fake bottle shattered on the pavement.

The lead detective walked over, pulling Vance to his feet and slapping cuffs on his wrists.

I picked up the phone from the chair and stopped the recording.

I looked at Margaret.

She was still sitting at the head of the table. But she looked tiny now. Shrunken. The powerful, untouchable matriarch of Vale Vineyards was gone.

“Elias didn't know, did he?” I asked her softly.

Margaret shook her head slowly. “No. He thought my husband died of natural causes. He just... he loved me. He wanted to protect me. He found the laptop tonight and hid it to save me.”

The heavy doors opened.

Three detectives walked in.

“Margaret Vale?” the lead detective asked.

Margaret stood up. She smoothed the wrinkles in her blazer, lifted her chin, and held out her wrists.

“I’m ready,” she said.

As they led her away, Adrian stood in the center of the ruined dining room. His family was destroyed. His legacy was built on murder.

I walked over and handed him the phone with the confession.

“It’s over, Adrian,” I said.