and suffocating, heavy with accusat

ian," she murmured, her voice laced with sorrowful resolve, "perhaps we should call the police. I

turn of the screw to force Elara into a confession. S

he shrieked, her voice rising hysterically. "You want the police in this house? You want the

asn't worried about justice or truth. She was terrifi

adow falling across her like a shroud. "Elara, this is your last chance," he said, his

and. He was offering her a plea ba

next. Juliana's false tears. Julian'

on of it. A version where she was the villain, and they were the wronge

seless. Pleadin

r voice quiet but ringing with a finality t

tched. Julian's pati

o had been hovering silently in the doorway. "Beaumont, check the s

ough Elara. The cameras. The

. they're not working. The ones in the living room and the main hall. They m

ned to ice in

cou

ought of everything. Juliana and Sharon. May

in Juliana's eyes before she

mixture of disappointment and disgust. "N

cked. They had built a cage of lies around h

epest, most suffocating part of that darkness, a tiny, wi

t the stake, she thought, I'

smile that made them all pause. In the face of th

ched into the pocket of her d

saic of glass, but it still l

ce soft and dangerously calm. "An item of such value has

hant expression

s thumb moved across the broken s

he phone

oed clearly from the speaker.

ell into a stunne

eyes holding his. And she spoke into