The name written at the bottom of the confession wasn’t Eleanor’s. It belonged to Dr. Harrison—Clara’s uncle and her late father’s most trusted physician.
Clara’s hands shook uncontrollably as the dark truth registered in her mind. “You… you didn’t just isolate him, Eleanor,” Clara gasped, her voice cracking. “You and Uncle Harrison altered his medications! You killed him!”
“Shut up!” Eleanor shrieked, her mask of cold elegance completely shattering. In a burst of rage, she slammed her hand against a mahogany side table, sending a heavy crystal vase crashing onto the hardwood floor. Shards of glass exploded in every direction.
“Don’t you dare frame me for this!” Eleanor yelled, pointing a trembling finger at Clara, her eyes wide with desperation. “You want to talk about guilt? Where were you, Clara? You were away in Europe chasing your career while your father was breaking down! It was YOUR absence that pushed him into depression! YOU are the reason he lost the will to live!”
“Lies!” Clara shouted back, tears spilling over her cheeks. “He called me every week begging me to come home, but you were the one answering his phone telling me he was too tired to speak!”
Desperate to destroy the evidence, Eleanor suddenly lunged forward, reaching out to rip the paper from Clara’s hands.
“Give that to me!” Eleanor screamed, grabbing Clara’s arm.
“Get off me!” Clara shoved Eleanor’s arm away defensively. Eleanor stumbled backward, colliding hard with the bookshelf, sending several heavy hardcovers tumbling around her.
Breathing heavily, Eleanor looked up from the floor, a bitter, sinister smile spreading across her face. “Go ahead, Clara. Take that letter to the police. But ask yourself this… who do you think bought the chemical compound listed on page two using YOUR personal credit account three months ago?”
Clara felt the air sucked right out of her lungs. Her eyes dropped back to page two of the letter…
(To be continued in Episode 3)
