Chapter 20 - Diane’s Version of LoveDiane entered the interview room wearing jail-issued clothing.
Without the styled hair, makeup, and controlled expressions, she looked smaller.
But not weaker.
Her eyes remained hard.
Sarah watched through video with Daniel and Detective Ruiz.
Diane’s attorney sat beside her.
Ruiz asked, “Tell us about the night Thomas Carter died.”
Diane smiled faintly.
“Ryan talked.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“He always talks when frightened.”
Ruiz waited.
Eventually Diane sighed.
“Thomas invited me.”
“Why?”
“To threaten me.”
“With what?”
“Exposure.”
“For giving Victor Lang information?”
“Yes.”
“Did you give Lang private trust information?”
“My attorney has advised me not to answer questions unrelated to Thomas’s death.”
Ruiz nodded.
“What happened after Victor left?”
Diane’s face changed slightly.
“Thomas started lecturing me.”
“About Ryan?”
“About everything.”
“Did he experience chest pain?”
“Yes.”
“What did you do?”
“He reached for medication.”
“Did you give it to him?”
Diane looked down.
“Yes.”
“What medication?”
“His usual tablets.”
“How many?”
“One.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Ruiz slid a photograph across the table.
A prescription bottle from Thomas’s archived property records.
Then another.
A small bottle recovered years earlier from the office trash but never considered relevant.
Different medication.
Different dosage.
Diane stared at it.
Ruiz said, “We’re re-testing preserved evidence.”
For the first time, Diane looked nervous.
Sarah’s pulse quickened.
Ruiz continued.
“You told Ryan Thomas became worse after medication.”
“Yes.”
“But medical records suggest his prescription should have helped.”
“I’m not a doctor.”
“Did you give him the wrong pill?”
“No.”
“Did you intentionally give him something else?”
“No.”
“Did you prevent him from calling emergency services?”
“No.”
Ruiz leaned forward.
“Then why didn’t you call?”
Diane’s jaw tightened.
“He insulted me.”
Everyone watching went still.
Ruiz spoke carefully.
“So you didn’t call because you were angry.”
“That isn’t what I said.”
“What did you mean?”
Diane’s composure finally cracked.
“He looked at me like I was nothing.”
Sarah felt cold.
“He always did.”
Ruiz waited.
Diane continued.
“He said Ryan became weak because of me.”
Her voice trembled with rage even four years later.
“He said Noah would grow up better if I stayed away.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
“He said Sarah would eventually see what I was.”
Diane laughed bitterly.
“And then he grabbed his chest.”
Ruiz asked, “What did you do?”
“I gave him the pill.”
“What pill?”
Diane stopped.
Ruiz repeated.
“What pill, Diane?”
Silence.
Then Diane whispered:
“One Victor gave me.”
Sarah stopped breathing.
Diane’s attorney immediately interrupted.
But the sentence was already recorded.
Ruiz asked, “Why did Victor give you a pill?”
Diane looked terrified now.
“He said it would only make Thomas sleepy.”
Sarah covered her mouth.
“He said we could photograph documents while Thomas was unconscious.”
Daniel whispered, “My God.”
Ruiz asked, “You gave Thomas an unknown drug without his knowledge?”
Diane began crying.
Not like Noah cried in the kennel.
Not frightened innocence.
The tears of someone finally cornered by consequences.
“I didn’t think he would die.”
Sarah felt no satisfaction.
Only emptiness.
Ruiz continued.
“When Thomas became distressed, why didn’t you call 911?”
Diane closed her eyes.
“Because Victor said if doctors tested him, they might find the drug.”
“And you chose to protect yourself.”
“I thought he would recover.”
“How long did you wait?”
“I don’t know.”
“Ten minutes?”
Silence.
“Twenty?”
Diane whispered, “Maybe.”
Sarah turned away.
Twenty minutes.
Her father might have lived.
She would never know.
Ruiz asked one final question.
“Why did you continue working with Victor afterward?”
Diane looked directly toward the interview camera.
“He owned me.”
Sarah understood.
Fear.
Again.
The same excuse Ryan used.
But Diane’s next words revealed the difference.
“And if I was going to belong to someone,” she said, “I intended to become rich from it.”
There it was.
No remorse.
Only resentment that the bargain had failed.
Sarah left before the interview ended.
Outside, Noah waited with Megan.
He ran to her.
“Can we go home?”
Sarah stopped.
Home.
The word felt complicated now.
Her father had hidden a security answer inside that idea.
The first place Sarah learned what home meant.
Blue Heron.
But perhaps her father had been wrong.
Maybe home wasn’t a place you remembered.
Maybe it was a person who came for you.
She hugged Noah.
“Yes.”
“Is Dad there?”
“No.”
“Grandma?”
“No.”
Noah relaxed.
Then asked, “The puppies?”
Sarah smiled faintly.
“They need somewhere safe too.”
His eyes widened.
“All three?”
May you like
“All three.”
For the first time since the kennel, Noah smiled.
