Chapter 3 - The Interrogation in Room 504
The smell of antiseptic was thick in Room 504 of Mount Sinai Hospital.
Victoria Vance lay propped up on three pillows. The ventilator tube had been removed, leaving her throat raw and her voice raspy. Her face was pale, devoid of the makeup that had maintained her flawless facade for two years. Two armed federal marshals stood inside the door, their hands resting near their sidearms.
The heavy door opened, and Alexander walked in, followed by David Vance and a man wearing a crisp grey suit carrying a thick leather briefcase.
Victoria’s eyes narrowed as she saw Alexander. A cold, bitter smile twisted her pale lips.
"Alexander," she rasped, her voice sounding like grinding stones. "Come to watch me suffer? Or did you bring your lawyers to settle our estate?"
"There is no estate, Victoria," Alexander said, stopping at the foot of her bed. He gestured to the man in the grey suit. "This is Federal Prosecutor Marcus Cole. He has spent the last six hours reviewing your financial trails in the Caymans, Switzerland, and the British Virgin Islands."
Victoria scoffed, looking away toward the window. "You have nothing. I’m a private citizen who suffered an unfortunate food poisoning incident at a high-end restaurant. My lawyers will have me out of these restraints by noon."
"Your lawyers resigned an hour ago," Prosecutor Cole said smoothly, opening his leather briefcase and setting three thick binders on her tray table. "When the FBI froze your retainer accounts under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin and Financial Terrorism Distraint Acts, their firm decided you were an unacceptable financial risk."
Victoria’s breath hitched. "You can't freeze my accounts! That money is held in private trusts!"
"Money stolen from Samuel Lin," a small, clear voice said from the doorway.
Victoria froze. Her eyes snapped toward the door.
Maya walked into the room, wearing a clean wool coat, her hair brushed neatly, standing tall beside David Vance.
Victoria’s jaw dropped. The arrogance on her face vanished, replaced by a sudden, violent rage that turned her pale skin red. "You..." she spat, pulling against the heavy steel handcuffs locking her wrist to the bed frame. "You little gutter rat! I should have sent you to a closed facility in Europe when I had the chance!"
"You tried," Maya said, her voice remarkable in its calm composure. "You tried to lock me away so I couldn't tell anyone about the skull bottle in my dad's medicine cabinet. But I remembered. And I followed you."
"She followed you for three weeks, Victoria," Alexander revealed, leaning over the foot of the bed. "She watched you meet with your offshore brokers in SoHo. She watched you enter Aurelia three days ago to inspect the layout. She saved my life because she remembered what you did to her father."
Victoria pulled violently against her restraints, the metal clinking loudly against the steel bed frame. "Alexander, listen to me!" she panicked, her raspy voice rising into a desperate shriek. "I loved you! Samuel was a foolish man who didn't know how to handle his fortune, but you... you and I were partners! We were going to rule this city together!"
"You didn't love me," Alexander said, his voice entirely devoid of emotion. "You loved my thirty-two percent voting share in Sterling International. You wanted the insurance payout from my death, combined with the automatic trust transfer you tried to trick me into signing last week under the guise of our 'pre-nuptial agreement.'"
Prosecutor Cole opened the first binder. "Victoria Vance, you are being formally charged with attempted first-degree murder, wire fraud, identity theft, money laundering, and the reopened homicide investigation into the death of Samuel Lin in the State of Maine."
"You have no proof about Samuel!" she screamed, sweat breaking out on her forehead once again. "He died of heart failure! The coroner signed the report!"
"The State Police in Maine exhumed your late husband’s body three hours ago under an emergency federal warrant," Prosecutor Cole countered flatly. "Preliminary toxicology has already identified trace amounts of aconite in his bone marrow. You are going to spend the rest of your natural life in a maximum-security federal facility, Victoria. There will be no bail. There will be no negotiations."
Victoria looked at Alexander, her eyes wide with a pathetic, desperate pleading. "Alexander... please... don't do this to me... I can give you the names of the brokers... I can give you half the money..."
Alexander looked at her for a long, quiet moment. He remembered the nights they had spent together, the soft laughter, the way she had looked at him under the moonlight in Venice. It had all been an illusion—a cold, calculated performance executed by a killer.
He reached out, took Maya’s small hand in his, and turned toward the door.
"Goodbye, Victoria," Alexander said softly.
May you like
"Alexander!" she shrieked behind him, her voice cracking as the marshals stepped closer to her bed. "Alexander! You can't leave me here! Alexander!"
The heavy oak door swung shut, drowning out her screams in the sterile silence of the hospital corridor.
