Chapter 3 - The Interrogation Room
The precinct interrogation room was smaller than I expected. The metal table was scarred with old cigarette burns and scratches, and the two-way mirror reflected the harsh glare of a single overhead bulb.
Detective Sarah Vance—a sharp-eyed investigator with silver-streaked hair and a notebook already open—sat across from Nathan and me. Emily was in a separate room down the hall, speaking with child protective services and the medical team.
"Let's go over this one more time, Mr. Ellis," Detective Vance said, tapping her pen against the metal table. "You claim you ordered a box of luxury chocolates for your mother's sixty-ninth birthday. But our forensic team tracked the serial number on the gold-leaf ribbon and the packaging batch. Those chocolates were never shipped from a retail store. They were hand-poured in a private residence using equipment purchased under a secondary burner account."
Nathan sat with his hands handcuffed to the bolted ring in the center of the table. His orange detention jumpsuit hung loosely over his shoulders. The arrogance that had defined his adult life had completely evaporated, leaving behind a pathetic, trembling shell of a man.
"I didn't mean for the kids to eat them," Nathan whispered, staring down at his locked hands.
The air in the room froze.
I sat across the table from him, my heart breaking into a million jagged pieces. I had raised him. I had given up my career, my youth, my savings, and my own grief after Robert died to ensure he had everything in the world. And this was how he repaid me.
"You didn't mean for them to eat them, Nathan?" I repeated, my voice shaking with a rage so profound it felt cold. "You meant for me to eat them. You wanted me dead."
Nathan flinched, squeezing his eyes shut as a tear leaked down his cheek. "You don't understand, Mom. You never understood!"
"Understand what?" I screamed, slamming my hand onto the metal table, making Detective Vance jump slightly. "Understand that you wanted to murder the mother who adopted you, loved you, and gave you her entire life?!"
"It was the debt!" Nathan sobbed, his voice breaking into a ragged, desperate wail. "The real estate investments... the private school tuition for Sophie and Ben... I borrowed five hundred thousand dollars from private lenders. High-interest loan sharks, Mom! They were going to take the house, ruin my business, and hurt my family!"
Detective Vance leaned forward, narrowing her eyes. "And how does murdering your mother solve a half-million-dollar debt, Mr. Ellis?"
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Nathan looked up, his face twisted in pathetic self-pity. "Her life insurance policy. Five hundred thousand dollars, naming me as the sole primary beneficiary. It was supposed to look like a tragic accidental poisoning at home. A sweet old lady eating her birthday chocolates."
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