Page 140 of He Sees You
"You got married last night?"
"At midnight. At the old Lockwood estate. Just family." She looks at Juliette, who nods confirmation. "Daddy seemed... wrong. Drunk. Scared. He kept saying he was sorry, that he'd failed me."
"Did he say anything specific about threats? Anyone who might want to hurt him?"
"Everyone," Celeste laughs bitterly through tears. "When those stories came out about Jake, about what Daddy let him do... people were angry. Someone spray-painted 'ACCOMPLICE' on his house two nights ago."
The detectives exchange glances.
They didn't know about the graffiti—because it didn't happen until Juliette did it this morning on her way here.
"We'll need a statement about the wedding. Timeline, who was present, when you last saw him."
"Of course." Celeste wipes her eyes. "He left right after the ceremony. Around 12:45. Said he had something to take care of."
"At that hour?"
"My father wasn't sleeping much lately. The Jake situation, the investigation... he knew more would come out."
"What do you mean?"
"He protected Jake for years. There were other things too, rumors about missing girls, cover-ups. I think Daddy knew his time was running out."
Wilges writes this down. "You think he might have been involved in trafficking?"
Celeste's tears come harder. "I don't know. I don't want to believe it, but... the evidence keeps mounting, doesn't it? Judge Hamilton, Dr. Wallis—they were all his friends."
"You knew about their... activities?"
"Not until this morning when Juliette told me. But it makes sense now. The late-night meetings, the extra money he somehow had, the way certain cases just disappeared."
She's brilliant, my wife.
Giving them breadcrumbs, letting them build the narrative we want—Sterling was part of the ring, the ring turned on itself, everyone's dead, case closed.
"Mrs. Lockwood, I have to ask—where did you go after the wedding?"
"Here," I answer. "My cabin. We've been here all night."
"Can anyone verify that?"
"Each other," Juliette says dryly. "It was their wedding night, Detective. I doubt they were taking visitors."
Wilges flushes slightly. "Of course. We're just being thorough."
They ask more questions, take notes, go through the motions.
But they've already decided what happened—a trafficking ring collapsed, members killed each other, Sterling got caught in the cleanup.
It's the simplest explanation, and cops love simple.
After they leave, Celeste's tears stop instantly.
"How was that?" she asks.
"Perfect. You should've been an actress."
"I am. I've been acting my whole life—playing the good daughter, the normal woman. Now I get to play the grieving widow."
