Chapter 11 - Richard's Confession
Richard Bennett asked to speak with prosecutors the following morning.
His attorney was present.
So was another lawyer specializing in criminal defense.
The request came after investigators informed his counsel that they had recovered the video.
Daniel told me not to expect honesty.
"People facing serious consequences often tell partial truths," he warned.
He was right.
Richard admitted that he had injured me.
He admitted that Eleanor had pressured him not to seek emergency medical care.
He admitted knowing about the facility outside Worcester.
But he claimed he had never intended for me to be taken there.
He said his mother had made the arrangements without his knowledge.
And he insisted he believed Katherine was dead until she appeared in court.
When Reyes asked about the 2009 photograph, Richard gave an answer nobody expected.
"I took it."
The prosecutor paused.
"You photographed Katherine seven days after her reported death?"
"Yes."
"Then you knew she was alive."
Richard lowered his head.
"I knew she was alive that day."
"What happened afterward?"
He stared at the table.
"Mother told me Katherine had been moved somewhere safe. She said Katherine was receiving treatment and didn't want contact with me."
"Did you believe her?"
Richard hesitated.
"Eventually."
Reyes asked why he hadn't corrected the public record.
Richard looked toward his attorney.
Then answered.
"Because by then, the death certificate had been issued, the funeral had taken place, and I understood that admitting the truth would expose my family."
"So you allowed your wife to remain legally dead?"
He said nothing.
Reyes continued.
"Did you know Katherine had been imprisoned?"
Richard shook his head.
"Not at first."
"At first?"
His attorney interrupted.
Richard raised a hand.
"I knew something was wrong. I chose not to find out how wrong."
When Daniel told me about the interview, I felt no sympathy.
Richard had spent years telling me he loved me.
He had watched me become afraid of my own home.
He had injured me.
He had helped conceal evidence.
And now he wanted credit for admitting the truth after the lies had collapsed.
But there was one part of his statement that mattered.
He claimed he had confronted Eleanor about Mercy years earlier.
She had shown him a document.
A handwritten confession supposedly signed by Thomas Bennett.
According to Richard, the confession stated that Thomas had arranged Mercy's disappearance after she threatened to expose their relationship.
"Where is that document?" Reyes asked.
Richard hesitated.
"My mother kept it."
"Did you ever see the original?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"In my father's study."
"And what did it say about Mercy's child?"
Richard went still.
For several seconds, he didn't answer.
Then he whispered.
"She told me the baby died."
Reyes leaned forward.
"Who told you?"
Richard looked up.
"My mother."
A long silence followed.
Then he added something that made the prosecutor stop writing.
"But my father didn't believe her."
"Why not?"
May you like
Richard stared at the table.
"Because two days before he died, he told me I had a sister."
