Chapter 6 - Diane’s Cabinet

The search of Raymond and Diane’s house happened the next morning.

I was not there.

Morales refused to let me anywhere near it.

“You are a witness, not a detective,” she said over the phone.

“I know.”

“You say that every time before doing something detective-adjacent.”

“I am at Maya’s apartment drinking tea.”

“Stay there.”

“Can I ask what you’re looking for?”

“You can ask.”

“That is not an answer.”

“It is the only one you get right now.”

She hung up.

Maya looked over from the stove.

“She likes you.”

“She threatens to arrest me every other day.”

“That can be affection in some professions.”

I almost smiled.

At noon, Diane called me.

I stared at the screen until it nearly stopped ringing.

Maya said, “Don’t.”

“I want to hear her.”

“Morales said no contact.”

“She said no confrontation.”

“That sounds like lawyer gymnastics.”

I answered and put the phone on speaker.

“Hello.”

Diane was crying.

“Sabrina.”

“What do you want?”

“They are tearing my house apart.”

I looked at Maya.

“Then maybe they have a warrant.”

“You did this.”

“No. You did.”

“I never wanted any of this.”

“Which part?”

“Sabrina.”

“No. Be specific. The medication? The photographs? The stolen mail? The forged signature? Which part did you not want?”

Diane went quiet.

Then she said, “Christopher told you.”

“Some of it.”

“He is blaming everyone because he is scared.”

“Are you?”

“Of course I’m scared.”

“Good.”

Maya glanced at me.

I knew the word sounded cruel.

I did not take it back.

Diane lowered her voice.

“You do not understand Raymond.”

“I understand enough.”

“No. You don’t.”

“Then explain him.”

“He does not lose.”

I looked at the phone.

“Is that what you told yourself when you put something in my food?”

Silence.

“Diane?”

“I never put anything in your food.”

“Wine?”

No answer.

“Soup?”

Still nothing.

“You were a chemistry teacher.”

“That does not make me a criminal.”

“No. Your choices did that.”

Her crying stopped.

The silence that followed felt more dangerous.

Then she said, “Raymond said the dose was safe.”

Maya’s eyes widened.

I stopped breathing.

Diane continued, as if she had not realized what she had admitted.

“He said you would sleep. That was all.”

I whispered, “You gave it to me.”

“I was trying to keep Christopher from making it worse.”

“How does drugging me make anything better?”

“You became suspicious.”

I laughed in disbelief.

“So your solution was to prove me right?”

“No.”

“What did you think happened after you carried the plates away?”

“Raymond told me it was paperwork.”

“My clothes were changed.”

Diane began crying again.

“I fixed your blouse.”

The room disappeared around me.

Maya reached for my shoulder.

I forced the next question out.

“Why?”

“Because Raymond said the pictures needed to look convincing.”

“What pictures?”

“You know.”

“Say it.”

“Sabrina, please.”

“Say what you did.”

Her breath hitched.

“I moved the buttons. I smeared the lipstick.”

“While I was unconscious.”

“Yes.”

“Did you touch me anywhere else?”

“No.”

“Did anyone?”

“I don’t know.”

“Were you in the room?”

“Sometimes.”

“When?”

“The first two dinners.”

“And the third?”

“Raymond told me to stay downstairs.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

I closed my eyes.

“Where did the medication come from?”

Diane did not answer.

Maya mouthed, Call Morales.

I nodded and texted her with my free hand.

Diane said, “I need you to tell them I cooperated.”

I stared at the phone.

“You are asking me for help.”

“I am asking you to tell the truth.”

“The truth is that you drugged me.”

“I did not think of it like that.”

“What did you call it?”

“A sedative.”

“That is not different.”

“Raymond said doctors use it all the time.”

“I am not his patient.”

“I know.”

“You did not have my consent.”

“I know.”

“You watched your son carry me upstairs.”

“I know.”

“You altered my clothes for blackmail photographs.”

Diane sobbed.

“I know.”

For the first time, I heard remorse in her voice.

It did not make me feel better.

Morales called on Maya’s phone.

Maya answered and put it to her ear.

“She’s still on with Diane.”

Morales said something.

Maya nodded.

Then she mouthed, Keep her talking.

I looked at my phone.

“Diane, where did Raymond keep the medication?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Why?”

“He’ll know.”

“Police are in your house.”

“He has people.”

“So do I now.”

“You don’t understand.”

“Then help me understand.”

Her voice became a whisper.

“My sewing room.”

“Where?”

“The cabinet beneath the cutting table.”

“Locked?”

“Yes.”

“Key?”

“Blue ceramic jar. Top shelf.”

Maya repeated the information quietly into her phone.

I asked, “What else is in the cabinet?”

“I don’t know.”

“You just told me where the key is.”

“I never opened the lower drawer.”

“What lower drawer?”

Diane inhaled sharply.

“Forget I said that.”

“Too late.”

The line clicked.

She hung up.

I immediately called Morales.

She answered on the first ring.

“We heard enough.”

“Was the call recorded?”

“Legally preserved, yes.”

“What did you find?”

“Stay where you are.”

“Morales.”

A pause.

“We found the cabinet.”

“And?”

“Medication containers. Some labeled, some not. We are sending everything for testing.”

“The lower drawer?”

Another pause.

“What?” I asked.

“Photographs.”

I gripped the table.

“Of me?”

“Yes.”

“How many?”

“I am not giving you details by phone.”

“Anything else?”

“Copies of trust documents.”

I swallowed.

“And the ledger?”

“No.”

“Then Raymond moved it.”

“Likely.”

Maya said, “Ask about Gregory.”

I did.

“Any sign of Gregory?”

Morales exhaled.

“We found his rental car at Oakland Airport.”

“So he flew out?”

“No airline record under his name.”

“He switched cars.”

“Possibly.”

“Or someone picked him up.”

“Yes.”

I looked out the window.

“Raymond knows he is the weak link.”

“Maybe.”

“He will either find him or scare him.”

“We are aware.”

I rubbed my forehead.

“What about Samuel?”

“He is talking.”

I looked at Maya.

“What did he say?”

“That he believed he was attending a private signing connected to a real-estate transaction. He admits he knew there would be pressure. He denies knowing you had been drugged until he heard Raymond say they gave you more.”

“Do you believe him?”

“Parts of it.”

“Did he know about the photographs?”

“He says Christopher asked him once to stand near the bed for a picture and he refused.”

“That matches Christopher.”

“Yes.”

“What is he giving you?”

“Messages from Raymond.”

My pulse quickened.

“What messages?”

“One says, ‘She will be cooperative by seven.’”

I closed my eyes.

“Anything about the signature?”

“Yes.”

“Read it.”

“I am not reading evidence to you over the phone.”

“Summarize.”

Morales sighed.

“Raymond told Samuel the beneficiary would sign and that Samuel should not ask unnecessary questions.”

“That sounds like Raymond.”

“There is more.”

“What?”

“Samuel says Gregory was afraid before dinner.”

“Why?”

“He saw something in Raymond’s study.”

“The ledger.”

“Maybe.”

“What did he say?”

“That Gregory came downstairs and told Samuel, ‘If this goes wrong, Vance will bury all of us.’”

I stared at Maya.

“So Gregory knew.”

“Something.”

“Find him.”

“We are trying.”

After the call ended, I sat at the table with my hands around cold tea.

Maya said, “You heard her admit it.”

“Yes.”

“How do you feel?”

I thought about Diane’s voice.

Raymond said the dose was safe.

I fixed your blouse.

I smeared the lipstick.

I know.

“I feel like I keep opening doors in a house I lived in for three years and discovering there was another room behind every wall.”

Maya sat across from me.

“Then stop opening them for tonight.”

“I can’t.”

“You can.”

“What if Gregory disappears?”

“Police are looking for him.”

“What if Raymond destroys the ledger?”

“Then they have other evidence.”

“What if Christopher changes his story?”

“He probably will.”

“What if—”

Maya interrupted.

“Sabrina.”

I stopped.

“You are trying to audit your way out of being terrified.”

I looked at her.

“That is unfairly accurate.”

“I know.”

She pushed the tea toward me.

“Drink.”

I obeyed.

For ten whole minutes, I did nothing related to the case.

Then Juniper jumped onto my lap and settled there as though I had never left home.

I buried my hand in her fur.

My phone buzzed.

A message from an unknown number appeared.

I opened it.

Only six words were written.

I know where the ledger is.

May you like

[COMPLETED] She waited ten years for her fiancé, but the night she marri...

[COMPLETED] Five Years After My Mafia Husband Chose Another Woman, He Me...

[COMPLETED] I CALLED MY HUSBAND 18 TIMES WHILE OUR SON WAS DYING. EIGHT...

Then another message arrived.

It’s Gregory. Don’t tell Raymond.