Chapter 4 - GWEN WALKED INTO THE POLICE STATION WEARING SABRINA’S EARRINGS
Ethan recovered faster than most people would.
That was one of his talents.
By 10:03, shock had already become concern.
“Sabrina.”
His voice softened.
“Thank God.”
She almost admired the speed.
Almost.
Board members looked between them.
Dana Pierce sat beside the screen.
The independent chair, Harold Stein, frowned.
“Sabrina, are you able to participate?”
“Yes.”
“Your attorney informed us police are involved.”
“Yes.”
Ethan interrupted:
“There has clearly been a misunderstanding.”
Sabrina looked at him.
“Which part?”
His jaw tightened.
“The heat failure.”
“Manual shutoff.”
“We don’t know that.”
“I do.”
“Your medication—”
“Four vials broken into a wastebasket.”
“Sabrina, you were feverish.”
There.
He started.
Mental state.
Confusion.
Sabrina smiled.
“Did my fever also change the security codes?”
Silence.
“Disable the elevator?”
No answer.
“Shut off water?”
Ethan leaned forward.
“You asked me for privacy.”
“Show them where.”
His face changed.
“What?”
“The message.”
“Email.”
“Text.”
“Recording.”
“Show the board where I asked you to turn my home into a freezer.”
Harold Stein raised one hand.
“Enough.”
Good.
Not courtroom.
Governance.
“We are not conducting a criminal proceeding.”
Exactly.
Harold continued:
“Given the circumstances, no temporary executive appointment will be made today.”
Ethan froze.
“We need stability.”
“We have a COO.”
“She cannot—”
“She can run operations for forty-eight hours.”
Sabrina watched Ethan realize his clean succession path had closed.
He looked at the screen.
“You need to rest.”
She smiled.
“Now you’re worried about my medicine?”
His face hardened.
Dana ended the exchange.
The board appointed no successor.
An independent committee began reviewing Ethan’s access to company systems.
That mattered.
Not because Ethan had already stolen the company.
He had not.
But he had spent years accumulating soft authority.
Client relationships.
Media.
Vendor introductions.
Advisory access.
Sabrina had allowed it because she loved him.
Now every informal door needed examination.
At 12:17, Detective Moreno entered Sabrina’s hospital room.
“Your sister-in-law is downstairs.”
Sabrina stared.
“Gwen?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She says she wants to give a statement.”
That surprised her.
“Voluntarily?”
“Yes.”
“What changed?”
Moreno looked toward the door.
“She brought something.”
“What?”
“The earrings.”
Sabrina almost laughed.
Of course.
Gwen walked into a police station wearing stolen emeralds.
Appropriate.
She did not see Sabrina first.
Police interviewed her separately.
Good.
No contamination.
Three hours later, Gwen asked to speak with Sabrina.
Sabrina said no.
Then changed her mind.
Not because Gwen deserved access.
Because Sabrina wanted information.
Gwen entered with no earrings.
No makeup.
Hair tied badly.
She looked younger.
Also older.
Fear does that.
Sabrina sat upright.
“You look terrible.”
Gwen almost laughed.
“Thank you.”
“What do you want?”
“I’m sorry.”
Sabrina raised one hand.
“No.”
Gwen stopped.
“Don’t spend five minutes trying to make yourself feel better.”
Her face crumpled.
“Okay.”
“What happened?”
Gwen sat.
“After Ethan hit you…”
Sabrina’s cheek pulsed at the memory.
“Yes?”
“I wanted to leave.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Mom told me if I walked out then, Ethan would blame me.”
“Terrifying.”
Gwen looked ashamed.
“I know.”
“No.”
Sabrina’s voice remained calm.
“You know now.”
Gwen nodded.
Fair.
“Then?”
“We went downstairs.”
“Ethan said we had to act normal.”
“He gave Mom your Zurich itinerary.”
“He told me to go home.”
“Did he tell you I would die?”
Silence.
“Gwen.”
“Yes.”
There.
“Exact words.”
Gwen swallowed.
“He said…”
Her voice broke.
“By morning, it would be over.”
Sabrina’s fingers tightened.
“What did you think that meant?”
“I knew.”
“Good.”
Gwen cried.
“Good?”
“Yes.”
“Because I am not interested in hearing you were confused.”
She flinched.
Sabrina continued.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“And left.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
The truth sat between them.
Ugly.
Clean.
“What changed?”
Gwen stared at the blanket.
“When I got home, Ethan called.”
“Why?”
“He wanted me to go back.”
Sabrina’s pulse changed.
“When?”
“About ten.”
Trevor Lane entered the building around then.
“What did he ask?”
“He said there might be something he forgot.”
“What?”
“He didn’t say.”
“Did you go?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I said I was sick.”
Sabrina almost laughed.
“Finally useful.”
Gwen wiped her face.
“Then he got angry.”
“What did he say?”
Another pause.
“Exact words.”
Gwen closed her eyes.
“If she somehow got out, everything changes.”
There.
Then:
“He said, ‘Trevor will handle it.’”
Sabrina stopped breathing.
“You recorded him?”
“No.”
Of course not.
“But?”
Gwen reached toward her bag.
Stopped.
“May I?”
Sabrina nodded.
She pulled out her phone.
“Voicemail.”
Ethan had called again after Gwen refused to answer.
Thirty-six seconds.
His voice.
“Call me.”
Pause.
“You don’t get to panic now.”
“Trevor has access.”
“If Sabrina reached anyone, we need to know before morning.”
Sabrina closed her eyes.
Not confession.
Close.
Enough to connect Trevor.
“Did police copy this?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Gwen began crying again.
Then:
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
“Ethan promised me a position.”
Of course.
“What?”
“Head of brand partnerships.”
Sabrina almost laughed.
“You have never managed a team larger than the committee for your apartment Christmas party.”
“I know.”
“Salary?”
Gwen looked away.
“Four hundred thousand.”
“Annual?”
“Yes.”
“Did you ask where the money came from?”
“No.”
“Equity?”
“Some.”
“Whose?”
Silence.
“Gwen.”
“Yours.”
There.
“What exactly did he tell you?”
“That after…”
She could not say death.
Sabrina waited.
“After you were gone, the board would need family stability.”
“Family?”
“You are not Beaumont.”
Gwen nodded.
“I know.”
“Neither is Ethan.”
“I know.”
“Apparently surnames became flexible.”
Gwen cried.
“Mom was promised the penthouse.”
Sabrina laughed.
That became coughing again.
“Of course she was.”
Then:
“Why are you telling me?”
Gwen looked directly at her.
“Because last night I watched Ethan hit you.”
“I watched him destroy your medicine.”
“And I still left.”
Her voice broke.
“I keep thinking if the firefighters had been five minutes later…”
Sabrina said nothing.
Gwen continued:
“I don’t want forgiveness.”
Good.
“I want to tell the truth before I get scared again.”
That sentence mattered.
Sabrina looked at her.
“Then keep talking.”
Gwen did.
Margaret had known for at least three weeks that Ethan planned to “take control” after Sabrina’s death.
Maybe she did not know the exact method until that night.
Gwen did.
Ethan told Gwen two days earlier that Sabrina’s health was “worse than she admitted.”
He told her if anything happened, Gwen should support him publicly.
He rehearsed statements.
He gave Margaret a list of jewelry and art he claimed Sabrina had intended them to have.
The list was fake.
Sabrina knew because she had never created one.
Then Gwen said:
“There’s a camera.”
Sabrina stared.
“What?”
“Ethan thought he disabled all of them.”
“Yes.”
“He did.”
“Then?”
“Mom has a pet camera.”
Sabrina blinked.
“What?”
“In her purse.”
This required explanation.
Margaret’s miniature dachshund had separation anxiety.
Margaret carried a portable Wi-Fi pet camera when traveling because apparently the dog required surveillance more than murder required secrecy.
The camera had been in the guest sitting room.
Margaret activated it earlier that afternoon to check the connection before leaving.
Forgot.
It faced the hallway.
Not bedroom.
But it might have captured:
Ethan carrying Sabrina’s phone.
The medical case.
Margaret and Gwen arriving.
Their departure.
Maybe audio.
“Where is it?”
“Mom took it.”
“Does she know?”
“I don’t think she remembered until this morning.”
“And now?”
“She won’t answer me.”
Sabrina looked toward Detective Moreno standing near the door.
The detective was already moving.
Search warrant would not be instant.
Proper process.
Good.
Gwen stood.
“One more thing.”
“What?”
She looked ashamed.
“The earrings.”
“What about them?”
“Ethan told me to take them.”
Sabrina stared.
“Why?”
“He said it would look like you’d packed jewelry for Zurich.”
Interesting.
Not greed alone.
Staging.
Margaret’s coat.
Gwen’s earrings.
Missing valuables.
False travel story.
Ethan had wanted the apartment to look as though Sabrina prepared to travel, became sick, then died during an outage.
But Gwen wearing the earrings complicated his own plan.
“She was supposed to return them later?”
“I don’t know.”
“You wore them home.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Gwen looked miserable.
“I liked them.”
Sabrina laughed.
For the first time, genuinely.
Gwen did too through tears.
“God, I’m awful.”
“Yes.”
Sabrina’s laughter faded.
“You were.”
Gwen nodded.
“Maybe still are.”
“Probably.”
Another nod.
Then Sabrina said:
“But telling the truth today is better than lying today.”
Gwen looked up.
Not forgiveness.
A path.
She left.
That night, police obtained Margaret’s pet camera.
Margaret surrendered it through counsel rather than risk a search.
The footage was partially useful.
Ethan walking toward Sabrina’s bedroom carrying the silver medical case.
Margaret and Gwen entering.
Forty-one minutes later, all three leaving.
Then Ethan stopping in the hallway.
Turning toward the bedroom.
Audio weak.
But one sentence clear.
“By breakfast, the cold does the rest.”
Sabrina listened once.
Then asked detectives to stop playback.
May you like
She did not need to hear it twice.
Neither did the prosecutor.
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