Chapter 5 - The Rat Sings
With Eleanor and Marcus locked away in federal holding without bail due to extreme flight risks, the grand wall of protection around Tyler Vance completely collapsed.
Stripped of his money, his family's high-priced legal team, and his status, Tyler was remanded back to county jail as his bail was officially revoked following the bribery charges.
Two days after the court disaster, I received a phone call from Detective Miller.
"Diane," Miller said, sounding tired but satisfied. "Vanessa just walked into the station with her personal lawyer. She's ready to sign a full confession and state's evidence agreement against Tyler and Eleanor."
"What changed her mind?" I asked, looking out the kitchen window at the peaceful garden where my late husband used to grow roses.
"The federal charges scared her to death," Miller explained. "She realized she was going to take the fall as the 'other woman' while the Vances tried to save themselves. She gave us everything—text messages, recorded phone calls, and location data."
An hour later, Evelyn and I were sitting in an interrogation viewing room behind a one-way mirror. On the other side of the glass sat Vanessa. She looked haggard, dark circles under her eyes, her expensive clothes wrinkled and unwashed.
"Tell us what happened on the morning of August fourteenth, Vanessa," Detective Miller instructed, setting a tape recorder on the table.
Vanessa swallowed hard, her voice trembling violently. "Tyler... Tyler told me that Rachel was going to sign divorce papers that afternoon. He said he had arranged to meet her at her mother's house. He asked me to drive his SUV behind her car to make sure she didn't try to leave."
"And Eleanor?" Miller pressed.
"Eleanor was in the back seat of my vehicle," Vanessa cried, tears running down her cheeks. "I didn't know what they had planned! I swear I didn't! When Rachel pulled into Diane’s driveway, she was already slumping over the wheel. Tyler got out, put the laced water in the cup holder, and pulled her phone out of her hand."
"And then?"
"Then Eleanor stepped out," Vanessa sobbed. "She looked at Rachel, then looked at the baby in the back. I asked Eleanor if we should call an ambulance because the baby was crying. Eleanor turned around and slapped me across the face!"
I squeezed my hands together until my knuckles turned white.
"What did Eleanor say when she slapped you?" Miller asked coldly.
"She told me to keep my mouth shut if I wanted to ever see a dime of Tyler's money," Vanessa confessed. "She said, 'The baby stays inside. It makes her breakdown seem believable. An exhausted mother forgets her baby—it happens in the news all the time. No one will question it.' Then Eleanor locked the doors manually using the hidden mechanical override, took the key fob, and shut the door. They left them there to roast!"
"Did Tyler try to stop her?"
"No!" Vanessa shook her head frantically. "Tyler laughed! He said, 'In three hours, we're multi-millionaires.' They forced me to drive them to a restaurant downtown so we would be seen on surveillance cameras setting up an alibi!"
Behind the glass, I closed my eyes, letting out a long, shuddering breath. The malice was unfathomable. It wasn't just a sudden moment of cruelty; it was a cold, calculated, monstrous execution of an innocent mother and child for pure, unadulterated greed.
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Evelyn turned to me, placing a supportive hand on my shoulder. "This testimony guarantees life sentences for both of them, Diane. There is no jury on earth that will show them mercy."
"Good," I said, opening my eyes, my voice hard as steel. "Because I won't show them any either."
