When the officer tried to grab him, she moved away.
The bag opened.
A set of keys, two telephones, several bottles of medicine, and a small digital recorder were scattered on the floor.
The mother pointed.
“That’s my phone.”
The old device had a broken screen.
Julian glared at Chloe with sudden fury.
“You were supposed to get rid of that.”
The room fell silent.
Chloe stared at him.
“You told me to keep it until the accounts were transferred.”
Mercer came between them.
“Neither of you should say another word.”
But the damage had already been done.
One of the prescription medication bottles had my mother’s name on it.
The medication it contained did not match the label.
The nurse examined a tablet.
“This seems to be a sedative.”
The mother shook her head.
“I don’t take sleeping pills.”
Chloe’s breathing became rapid.
“She gets agitated.”
“Did you drug her?” I asked.
“I managed to control his symptoms.”
“You are not a doctor.”
“It was impossible!”
The mask finally broke.
Every polished smile, every complaint about sacrifice, every carefully constructed story collapsed in a single outburst of anger.
“She complained about money every single day!” Chloe exclaimed. “She followed us all over the house. She accused us of stealing even before we’d taken anything!”
Julian closed his eyes.
“Stop talking.”
Chloe turned against him.
“You said she’d sign the deed to the house in a week! You said Elena never visited her and nobody would question it!”
My mother made a noise as if something was breaking.
Julian looked at her.
For a brief moment, shame crossed her face.
Then he disappeared.
“You don’t understand,” he told me. “We were drowning.”
“So you tied her to the bed?”
“I never hurt her.”
The mother stepped forward.
“You held the rope.”
Julian’s expression changed.
The entire room seemed to narrow around him.
“I was trying to stop you from falling.”
“You tied my ankles together.”
“You were confused.”
“You put a pillow over my face.”
Even Chloe looked at him.
“That?”
Julian’s head snapped towards his mother.
“That never happened.”
The mother’s voice grew louder.
“You said that if I died in my sleep, everyone would say it was from natural causes.”
Sheriff Mercer signaled to the deputies.
They approached Julian.
He stepped back.
“This is a misunderstanding.”
“You have the right to remain silent,” Mercer began.
Julian pushed an officer and lunged into the hallway.
He took three steps.
The second officer caught up with him, cornered him against the wall, and held his wrists.
Chloe burst into tears.
Not for Mom.
For herself.
“I knew nothing about the pillow,” he said. “I never accepted murder.”
Julian writhed against the handcuffs.
“Shut up!”
