The realization crawled across Clara’s skin.
“Why are you really here?” she whispered.
The old woman’s expression changed.
For a second, genuine fear flickered there.
Then came another crash.
This time from the front door.
A violent pounding.
Everyone jumped.
Daniel hurried toward the hallway.
A man’s voice shouted from outside.
“Police! Open the door!”
Clara’s blood ran cold.
Two officers entered moments later.
Rainwater dripped from their coats.
One of them looked directly at Clara’s mother.
“Margaret Vale?”
The old woman stiffened.
The officer continued:
“We’ve been looking for you for six days.”
The room fell silent.
Clara stared.
“Looking for her… why?”
The officer hesitated.
Then spoke carefully.
“Ma’am, three caretakers at Saint Jude Medical Facility are dead.”
Noah gasped.
Daniel went pale.
And Clara felt the world split open beneath her feet.
The officer’s next words landed like a hammer.
“Your mother disappeared the same night the fires started.”
Part 6
The apartment dissolved into chaos.
One officer moved toward Margaret cautiously.
Another questioned Daniel.
Noah stood frozen near the doorway.
But Margaret never took her eyes off Clara.
Not once.
“You told them,” Clara whispered.
Margaret smiled faintly.
“No. But you will.”
Then, suddenly, she collapsed.
Her body struck the floor hard enough to make Noah cry out.
Paramedics arrived minutes later.
Heart failure.
Critical condition.
The officers escorted everyone to the hospital for statements.
By midnight, Clara sat beneath sterile fluorescent lights while rain battered the emergency room windows.
A detective slid a folder across the table.
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