The Call Boy I Met in Paris – Episode 70
Sophie locked the side-office door and placed copies of the financial transfers on the desk. Stella looked toward the glass wall, but the blinds had been closed. For once, there was no audience to manipulate and no Karen close enough to answer for her.
“Drugging and embezzlement,” Sophie said. “Either charge could put you in prison.”
“You cannot prove I drugged you.” Stella folded her arms, though her voice had begun to shake. “And those accounts do not belong to me.”
“The café kept its cameras. Ted preserved the glass, the hospital ordered toxicology testing, and the photographers can be traced to whoever paid them.” Sophie tapped the financial records. “As for the money, the audit has only started.”
Stella’s gaze moved across the documents. “What do you want?”
“This is about my mother.”
Panic flashed across Stella’s face before she looked away. “I did not kill her. It was not me.”
The denial came too quickly. Sophie felt the room contract around it. She had not asked whether Stella killed anyone.
“Then who did?”
“I do not know.”
“Was it your mother?” Sophie stepped closer. “Did Karen have something to do with my mother’s death?”
Stella remained silent, but the answer appeared in the terror she could not conceal. Whatever she knew had been protected for years by the certainty that Sophie lacked evidence.
“I am going to count to three,” Sophie said. “If you refuse to speak, I take the café evidence and the financial records to the authorities today. You can explain everything from a cell.”
“You would destroy your own sister?”
“You stopped treating me like a sister long ago. One.”
Stella looked toward the locked door. “Sophie, this is bigger than you think.”
“Two.”
“Give me time.” Stella’s composure broke. “I will get you evidence about what happened to your mother.”
Sophie stopped before three. She did not trust the promise, but for the first time Stella had admitted that evidence existed. “Good,” she said. “I will be waiting.”