Chapter 5 - The Web of Deceit
By 3:00 AM, the precinct on 5th Street was turned into a war room. Mark and Victoria Sterling sat in an interrogation suite with their lead attorney, Richard Vance-Cross, sweat soaking through Mark’s custom silk shirt. Across the two-way mirror stood Arthur Vance, Captain Martinez, and myself.
In the adjacent room, Amanda was undergoing direct interrogation. Her earlier bravado had decayed into hysterical rage.
"I told you people, she blocked my light! I was posing for a photograph for Hamptons Living!" Amanda yelled, slamming her handcuffed hands against the metal table. "She was lingering right by the ledge like a sullen shadow. I touched her shoulder to tell her to move, and she lost her balance. She's clumsy! Her shoes were cheap heels from a discount mall!"
Detective Miller leaned across the table, his expression unreadable. "A touch, Miss Sterling? That is your official sworn statement?"
"Yes! A light tap! A polite gesture!"
Miller reached into a manila folder and pulled out a tablet screen, turning it toward Amanda. "We seized your home surveillance footage, Miss Sterling. Interestingly, your mother’s IT director attempted to wipe the hard drives at midnight. Unfortunately for you, he used a standard commercial scrub that our cyber division bypassed in eleven minutes."
Miller pressed play.
The high-definition 4K camera from the terrace eaves displayed the scene in horrific, crystal clarity. Chloe was leaning against the balustrade, peaceful, looking out at the moonlight reflecting on the sea. Amanda approached from behind, her face twisted in venomous malice. She didn't tap Chloe's shoulder. She braced her legs, set her champagne glass down, and shoved Chloe with both hands directly into the center of her back with violent, explosive force.
The audio captured Amanda’s cold, cruel chuckle immediately after Chloe’s scream cut off against the rocks: *"That will teach the little stray to stand in my frame."*
Amanda stared at the screen, her mouth opening and closing like a suffocating fish. All the aristocratic color abandoned her skin, leaving her a sickly shade of ash.
"That... that's taken out of context," she sputtered, her voice rising to a shrill pitch. "Richard! Where is my lawyer? Richard!"
In our observation room, Arthur turned to Captain Martinez. "That is aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, and attempted murder with depraved indifference. File the charges without possibility of bail."
"Consider it done, Mr. Vance," Martinez replied.
May you like
I watched through the glass as Amanda began to weep ugly, desperate tears, realizing for the first time in her thirty-four years of existence that her family's fortune could not erase what forty frames per second had carved into digital stone.
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