Page 99 of Tangled Trust

"I never meant for any of this to happen, Detective. You must believe me."

"Alright. Tell me what’s happened."

"All I wanted was for Carter to see that the woman he was involved with wasn’t who she said she was."

"So, you knew who she was before she disappeared."

"Yes. I hired an investigator to do a background check on her. I only did it to protect my family."

"I can understand that. Then what happened?"

"Well, I found out that she’d left the UK rather suddenly, which made me suspicious. I mean, this woman spends a serious amount of time with my son. She could be a serial killer for all I know. Carter was blinded by her good looks, so it was up to me to find out more about her."

"Understandable. Go on."

"Anyway, I found out about her ex, Doctor Sebastian Drake. I wanted to know why she suddenly left, so I contacted him."

"And, what did he tell you?"

"I knew he wouldn’t necessarily tell a stranger the truth, so I pretended to be Ella."

"What did you discuss with Dr. Drake?"

"I may have given him the impression that Ella wanted him back in her life. But, I swear, had I known he'd be violent, I would never have done it. You must believe me, Detective."

"How did he know where to find Ella?"

"I invited Ella to lunch at my beach house, pretended to be Ella, and invited Sebastian to see her there. When I went over to the house, I expected to find them there, you know, working it out. He seems to adore her. That’s what I got from the texts."

"What happened when you got to the house?"

"Ella’s car was there, but she wasn’t. Neither was Sebastian."

Do I tell Anderson about the blood on the floor? This is where things can go really wrong for me. But, I know I have to be honest. I’ve come this far. There’s no point in holding back now. The cops have me on camera, for shit’s sake!

"Was there any indication of a struggle?"

"Nothing was disturbed…but there was blood on the floor in the living room."

"How much blood?"

"I don’t know…about a palm-sized blob, I guess."

"And it didn’t occur to you to call the police?"

"I was afraid to. I told you. I didn’t intend for anything bad to happen to Ella. I just wanted…"

"Amanda, do you have Dr. Drake’s contact number?"

"Yes, but it won’t do you any good. The phone’s been off. I tried to call him to find out if Ella was alright. Obviously, I was worried when I saw the blood. I’m not a monster, Detective."

"Of course not. Can you give me the number, please?"

"Sure."

I take out my cell phone and scroll through the contacts until I come to Sebastian’s number.

"Here."

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