Chapter 5 - The Missing Nurse
The sterile lighting of the hospital waiting room felt oppressive as Elena sat alone on a stiff plastic chair, her wrists still marked by the tight grip of the police handcuffs. The door opened quietly, and Detective Miller walked in, holding a small paper cup of water, which she set down on the low table between them. Elena didn't touch it. Her eyes were hollow, reflecting the harsh fluorescent glare above.
"The nurse, Sarah Jenkins, hasn't answered her phone since noon," Detective Miller said, pulling up a chair and sitting down directly across from Elena. "Her apartment is completely empty. Clothes gone, passport gone, and her bank account received a fifty-thousand-dollar wire transfer from an account controlled by Julian just yesterday morning."
Elena stared at the worn linoleum floor, the pieces of the terrifying puzzle finally snapping into a horrifying picture.
"He set me up," Elena whispered, the words tasting like ash in her mouth. "All of it. The missing necklace, the forged signatures, the gambling debts. He needed a scapegoat so he could take control of the entire estate and run away with her."
"That is certainly one working theory," Detective Miller conceded, crossing her legs and leaning back. "But it takes two people to execute a financial fraud of this magnitude. And right now, all the physical evidence in that house points directly to you holding the murder weapon over an incapacitated woman."
Elena looked up sharply, her eyes wide with desperate indignation.
"I didn't try to hurt her! She was screaming at me, telling me that Julian was going to kill us both!" Elena pleaded, grabbing the edge of the table. "She has lucid moments, Detective. Brief, terrifying moments where she remembers everything he’s done!"
Detective Miller remained completely silent for a long, agonizing moment, studying Elena’s face for any sign of deception.
"If your mother-in-law has lucid moments, Mrs. Vance, then she might be the only living witness who can corroborate your story," the detective said slowly. "Unfortunately, her doctor just informed us that her vital signs dropped drastically about twenty minutes ago, and she’s currently in emergency surgery."
Elena’s breath hitched in her throat. The old woman was the only one who knew the truth, the only one who could save her from spending the rest of her life behind bars.
"Can I see her? Please, I have to talk to her," Elena begged, standing up so abruptly that her chair scraped loudly against the floor.
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"Sit down, Elena," Detective Miller commanded firmly, her hand resting on the table. "You aren't going anywhere. And neither is your husband. Because five minutes ago, highway patrol units intercepted Julian’s car heading toward the state line—and found Sarah Jenkins tied up in his trunk."
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