Chapter 19 - SNOW FINALLY SAID HIS NAMERebecca listened to the recording from a police interview room.
When it ended, she did not cry.
She sat very still.
“I remember that conversation.”
“Why did you remain silent?” Detective Cross asked.
“I wanted to believe he meant legal pressure.”
“Did you?”
Rebecca looked at me.
“No.”
That answer cost her.
It also began the truth.
She admitted suspecting Nathaniel and Dr. Hale might cause me physical harm.
She avoided asking how.
If she did not know the method, she told herself she was not responsible.
She signed documents.
Helped access the cabinet.
Agreed to hand me the marked glass.
She claimed she believed it contained only something that would make me sleepy.
That belief was already horrifying.
Even without murder, she intended to impair my mind and take my signature.
“I am your mother,” I said.
Rebecca’s face broke.
“I know.”
“No. You knew I was an obstacle.”
“That isn’t true.”
“Then what was I?”
She struggled for an answer.
“The person who could take the castle away.”
There it was.
Stone over blood.
Legacy over consent.
Inheritance over life.
Rebecca agreed to cooperate fully.
She surrendered financial records and private messages.
She faced charges for document fraud, conspiracy to exploit a vulnerable adult, and obstruction.
Prosecutors would determine whether she could be charged in connection with the attempted killing.
Nathaniel and Dr. Hale faced more serious accusations.
Victoria, Samuel, and the notary each faced consequences based on their roles.
The investigation continued for months.
Nathaniel initially denied everything.
Then the recordings were disclosed.
His defense shifted.
He claimed Dr. Hale manipulated him.
The doctor claimed Nathaniel designed the plan.
Victoria blamed both.
People who conspire for profit often discover morality only after arrest.
Snow returned to the conservatory.
For several weeks, he repeated fragments.
“Blue bottle.”
“Before the candles.”
“Nathaniel knows.”
I did not punish the bird for the words.
They were not his.
He had simply carried them until someone listened.
At night, I sat beside his perch.
Sometimes he whistled George’s favorite song.
Sometimes he said nothing.
Those silences comforted me.
Clara moved into the castle temporarily.
Not to control me.
To help restore security and prepare the foundation.
She asked before entering my rooms.
She knocked.
Small acts became precious after a conspiracy built on removing choice.
One afternoon, she brought me a sealed envelope found in Nathaniel’s office.
It was addressed to all family members.
The letter was intended to be read after my funeral.
My grandson had written:
Grandmother died peacefully, surrounded by the people she loved.
I folded the paper.
Then I laughed.
Clara looked startled.
May you like
“What’s funny?”
“He never asked whether I loved the people surrounding me.”
