Chapter 16 - The Confession
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"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Ethan screamed at the top of his lungs, beating his iron handcuffs against the table. "GUARDS! GUARDS, HELP ME! SHE'S IN HERE!"
Behind the two-way mirror, Detective Mason and the DA were frantically hitting the electronic door override, but the precinct's central power grid had been completely fried by an external EMP device planted in the basement electrical junction.
"The door is deadbolted from the inside!" Mason yelled, drawing his sidearm and beating his shoulder against the heavy reinforced glass of the observation window. "Get a breaching ram!"
Inside the darkened interrogation room, Emily didn't rush. She walked slowly around the steel table, the scalpel shining like a silver needle in the dim green light.
"They won't hear you, Ethan," Emily said smoothly, stopping right beside his chair. "The room is soundproofed. Remember? Just like the room you kept me in for four years."
Ethan was shaking so violently his teeth were clicking together. Tears of pure, unadulterated terror poured down his face.
"It wasn't my idea!" Ethan sobbed desperately, leaning away from the blade. "It was my mother! Margaret made me do it! She told me we needed the Vance trust money to save the company! I wanted to let you go, Emily! I swear to God I wanted to let you go!"
"And Claire?" Emily asked softly, leaning down until her face was inches from his. "Did your mother make you push Claire off the balcony three nights ago?"
"YES! NO! I DON'T KNOW!" Ethan cried hysterically, completely breaking down. "Claire found the text messages! She was going to leave me and take half the company shares! I had to push her! I had to make it look like an accident just like I did with you!"
Behind the two-way glass, Detective Mason froze.
The audio recording system inside the observation booth was running on an independent battery backup. Every word Ethan was screaming was being recorded directly onto the county's secure server.
"I pushed her!" Ethan wailed, sobbing like a child. "I shoved her over the railing! I killed you, and I tried to kill her! JUST DON'T HURT ME! PLEASE, EMILY, DON'T HURT ME!"
Emily smiled. A real, genuine smile that reached her dark eyes for the first time in four years.
She reached up into her coat, pulled out a small black recorder connected to a wireless transmitter, and held it up to Ethan's face.
"Thank you, Ethan," Emily whispered softly. "That's all I needed."
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CRASH!
The heavy observation glass shattered violently into ten thousand pieces as Mason and the SWAT team breached the room!
