CHAPTER 5 – The Dead Doctor Left One Last Witness
CHAPTER 5 – The Dead Doctor Left One Last Witness
The announcement hit Ashford Hall like a thunderclap.
Dr. Collins was dead.
Not missing.
Not hiding.
Dead.
Dominic looked at Victor only once.
"Seal the estate."
"It already is."
"No."
Dominic's voice hardened.
"I mean total lockdown."
Within seconds, every security protocol activated.
Steel barricades rose from beneath the front driveway.
The gates automatically locked.
Drone surveillance launched from concealed platforms behind the garage.
Every vehicle entering or leaving the property was now under armed observation.
Nobody was getting out.
Not without Dominic's permission.
Celeste laughed again, though the sound was thinner than before.
"You honestly think I killed a doctor?"
Dominic didn't answer.
Victor stepped beside him.
"The coroner estimates he died around six this morning."
Celeste folded her arms.
"I've been here all day."
"That doesn't clear you."
"It should."
Victor shook his head.
"It only proves you didn't kill him personally."
For the first time, uncertainty flickered across her face.
Meanwhile, Mara remained beside Eleanor.
She noticed the older woman's hands were trembling uncontrollably.
"It's all right," Mara whispered.
"You don't have to be afraid anymore."
Eleanor slowly looked toward Dominic.
"My son..."
Dominic immediately crossed the room and knelt before her.
"I'm here."
She touched his cheek with fragile fingers.
"I tried..."
Her voice cracked.
"I tried to tell you."
"I know."
"No."
Tears rolled down Eleanor's face.
"I mean before."
She pointed weakly toward the fireplace.
"Months ago."
Dominic followed her gaze.
"There."
Victor immediately signaled two officers.
They searched the carved mantelpiece.
One of them frowned.
"Boss..."
He reached inside a decorative vent.
Hidden beneath years of dust...
...was a tiny digital recorder.
Victor carefully removed it.
"The battery's dead."
Dominic handed it to Erin through his secure tablet connection.
"Can you recover it?"
"I'll need ten minutes."
"You have five."
Across the hallway, Celeste watched the recorder disappear.
A single bead of sweat formed near her temple.
Dominic noticed.
He noticed everything now.
Five minutes later Erin's voice echoed through the speakers.
"I recovered one audio file."
Victor connected it to the hallway monitor.
Static filled the room.
Then...
Eleanor's trembling voice.
"Dominic... if you're hearing this... I don't know whether I'll still be alive..."
The servants gasped.
Another voice interrupted the recording.
Celeste.
Cold.
Cruel.
"Still making recordings?"
A slap.
Eleanor cried out.
The recorder hit the floor.
Then another voice entered.
Male.
Unknown.
Calm.
Professional.
"Mrs. Whitmore, we shouldn't stay long."
Dominic's expression changed instantly.
"Play that again."
The unknown man repeated—
"Mrs. Whitmore..."
Victor frowned.
"She wasn't working alone."
Erin was already analyzing the voice.
"Running identification now."
Three long seconds passed.
Then—
"I found a probable match."
Everyone looked toward the screen.
GREGORY SLOANE
Licensed attorney.
Corporate specialist.
Legal adviser...
...to the Whitmore family.
Victor's jaw tightened.
"The family lawyer."
Erin continued typing.
"He's also the executor of three offshore trusts connected to Whitmore Holdings."
Dominic finally smiled.
It wasn't a pleasant smile.
"We've stopped chasing a snake."
Victor understood immediately.
"We've found the nest."
At that exact moment...
A black SUV sped away from Manhattan.
Inside sat Gregory Sloane.
His hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles had turned white.
His phone rang.
"Talk."
A distorted electronic voice answered.
"The doctor is dead."
"I know."
"The recording?"
Gregory hesitated.
"...We missed one."
Silence.
Then the voice became icy.
"You had one job."
"I'll fix it."
"You have one hour."
The call ended.
Gregory looked in the rearview mirror.
Then accelerated toward Ashford Hall.
May you like
He wasn't coming to rescue Celeste.
He was coming to erase every remaining witness.
