Chapter 6: The Woman Who Knew Everything
Eleanor Cole arrived at the estate at half past ten.
I knew who she was from photographs — Marcus kept one on the corner of his desk, a woman in her late sixties with silver hair and the kind of posture that suggested she had never once slouched in her life.
In person she was smaller than I expected, and she moved through the front entrance like someone who had built the house herself and was checking whether it still met her standards.
Garrett met her at the door.
She handed him her coat without looking at him and walked directly to the security room.
She stopped when she saw me.
I was still there.
Marcus hadn't told me to leave, and I hadn't known where else to go.
Lily was sitting on the floor with Mr.
Bun, arranging the rabbit's ears with great seriousness.
"You're the one whose daughter found the footage," Eleanor said.
"Yes, ma'am."
She looked at Lily.
Lily looked up.
"Hi," Lily said.
"Hello." Eleanor looked back at me.
"What's your name?"
"Nina, ma'am.
Nina Vasquez."
"How long have you worked here, Nina?"
"Eight months."
Something moved across her face.
"Eight months." She turned to Marcus.
"The same—"
"Yes," he said.
"The same week."
Eleanor sat down in the chair across from the desk.
She sat very straight.
She folded her hands in her lap.
"Tell me everything," she said.
"From the beginning.
Leave nothing out."
Marcus told her.
He was precise and unhurried, and he didn't soften any of it.
The shell company.
The transfers.
The authentication codes routed through staff devices.
Marta's role.
Vanessa's login.
The eighty thousand dollars moved that morning before Eleanor had woken up.
Eleanor listened without interrupting.
When he finished, she was quiet for a moment.
"Four hundred and thirty thousand dollars," she said.
"And eighty.
As of this morning."
"Over seven months."
"Yes."
"And Vanessa has been in this house for two years."
"Yes."
Eleanor looked at her hands.
"I introduced them," she said.
"Did you know that?
I met her mother at a charity luncheon.
I thought she was — I thought she was a good match." She paused.
"I thought I was helping."
"Mom—"
"I'm not asking for reassurance, Marcus." Her voice was steady.
"I'm accounting for my part in it." She looked up.
"What happens now?"
"Garrett has already contacted the financial crjme unit.
They'll want the transfer records, the shell company documentation, and the access logs." He paused.
"They'll also want to speak with Marta."
"Has she been found?"
"Not yet."
Eleanor nodded once.
Then she turned to me again.
"Nina."
"Ma'am."
"You reported your phone missing to Marta this morning."
"Yes."
"And she—"
"She said she'd look into it.
She looked me in the eye." I stopped.
"She returned it to my cart before six.
I didn't even realize it was back."
Eleanor was quiet for a moment.
"She's been in this house for eleven years," she said.
"I trusted her with everything.
Keys, schedules, my personal correspondence when Marcus was traveling." She looked at the monitors.
"Everything."
Lily stood up from the floor.
She walked over to Eleanor and held up Mr.
Bun.
Eleanor looked down at her.
"For you," Lily said.
"So you feel better."
Eleanor took the rabbit.
Held it carefully with both hands.
Her expression didn't break, but something behind her eyes shifted.
"Thank you," she said.
"What's his name?"
"Mr.
Bun."
"Mr.
Bun." She looked at Marcus.
"We're pressing charges."
"I know."
"All of it.
Marta, Vanessa, the shell company, the mother if she's involved." She handed Mr.
Bun back to Lily with both hands, gently.
"Nobody takes from this family and walks away clean."
Marcus's phone buzzed on the desk.
May you like
He looked at it.
"Garrett found Marta," he said.
