Chapter 7 - The Police Report
Two detectives arrived the next morning.
Detective Rosa Martinez did most of the talking.
Her partner, Detective Colin Reed, mostly listened.
David appreciated that.
They met inside a small consultation room at the hospital.
David placed everything on the table.
Photographs.
Bank records.
Security footage.
Eleanor’s note.
Screenshots.
Corporate access logs.
The attempted $48,000 payment.
Martinez looked through the documents without reacting.
Finally, she asked,
“Let’s separate this into categories.”
David nodded.
“Your wife and child first.”
Maya sat beside him.
Martinez turned toward her.
“Mrs. Bennett, did anyone physically prevent you from leaving the apartment?”
“No.”
“Did anyone take your phone?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“Eleanor.”
“For how long?”
“Several hours.”
“More than once?”
Maya hesitated.
“Yes.”
David turned toward her.
That was new.
“How many times?”
“Three.”
Martinez wrote it down.
“Did anyone prevent you from obtaining food?”
Maya looked uncomfortable.
“Not exactly.”
“Tell me what happened without trying to classify it.”
Maya took a breath.
“Food was removed from the apartment.”
“By whom?”
“Mostly Chloe and Mark.”
“Did they know it was intended for you?”
“Yes.”
“Baby formula?”
“Yes.”
“Did you ask them not to take it?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Chloe told me David could buy more.”
Martinez looked toward David.
“And did you know?”
“No.”
“Did anyone tell you?”
“No.”
Maya continued.
“Eleanor told me not to bother David.”
Martinez nodded.
“Did you feel afraid of her?”
Maya was quiet.
“Yes.”
David looked at his wife.
Not uncomfortable.
Not intimidated.
Afraid.
The word stayed with him.
Martinez then moved to the financial records.
“This $14,000 was a gift?”
“No,” David said.
“It was money specifically for Maya’s recovery, Liam’s care, groceries, and household expenses.”
“Was that stated in writing?”
David opened a text.
He had sent it to Eleanor before transferring the money.
USE THIS FOR MAYA, LIAM, FOOD, TRANSPORTATION, CLEANING HELP, AND ANYTHING THEY NEED WHILE I’M GONE.
Martinez read it.
“Good.”
Eleanor’s response was directly below.
OF COURSE. STOP WORRYING. WE’LL TAKE CARE OF THEM.
Martinez photographed the exchange.
Then came Mark.
The office.
The files.
The phone.
The attempted transfer.
The detective’s posture changed.
“This is where we move beyond family misconduct.”
David nodded.
“My company has its own attorneys involved.”
“We’ll coordinate.”
“What happens now?”
“We investigate.”
“Are you arresting him?”
“Not based solely on what we have in this room.”
David didn’t like the answer.
Martinez noticed.
“Mr. Bennett, you want this done correctly.”
“I want my family safe.”
“So do it correctly.”
David nodded.
She continued.
“Do not threaten anyone.”
“I haven’t.”
“Do not try to trick Mark into confessing.”
“I won’t.”
“Do not delete anything.”
“I won’t.”
“And do not let anyone back into that apartment without documentation.”
David glanced at Maya.
“Understood.”
The interview lasted two hours.
At the end, Martinez handed David a card with the report number.
A police report.
There it was.
The thing Eleanor would later tell everyone had been unnecessary.
The thing Chloe would call an overreaction.
The thing Mark would claim destroyed the family.
David put the card in his wallet.
But as the detectives prepared to leave, Maya spoke.
“There’s something else.”
Everyone stopped.
David turned toward her.
“What?”
Maya’s hands trembled.
“On December twenty-ninth, I heard Mark and Eleanor arguing.”
“About what?” Martinez asked.
“I couldn’t hear everything.”
“What did you hear?”
Maya looked at David.
“Mark said, ‘Once David signs in Germany, we have the number we need.’”
David’s face changed.
Martinez immediately sat back down.
“What number?”
“I don’t know.”
Maya continued.
“Then Eleanor said, ‘He trusts me. He always has.’”
David felt cold.
Detective Martinez opened her notebook again.
“Mrs. Bennett, I need you to tell me every word you remember.”
May you like
And suddenly, Eleanor no longer looked like someone who had merely enabled Mark.
She looked like someone who might have known exactly what he was doing.
