Chapter 13 - Eleanor Bennett's Last Dinner
Eleanor Bennett was arrested two days later.
Not for murder.
Not yet.
The initial charges concerned alleged witness intimidation, obstruction, and conspiracy relating to evidence concealment.
Investigators continued examining the older allegations.
The arrest happened outside a private dining club in Beacon Hill.
Eleanor was wearing a cream-colored coat.
Her pearls rested perfectly against her collar.
She did not resist.
She did not cry.
When reporters asked whether she had anything to say, she looked directly into the cameras.
"My family is the victim of a malicious campaign."
Even in handcuffs, she sounded certain.
That evening, her attorney requested an emergency meeting with prosecutors.
Eleanor was willing to discuss the foundation.
She was willing to identify certain financial intermediaries.
But she demanded immunity from prosecution for events connected to the old greenhouse.
Reyes refused to promise it.
The negotiations went nowhere.
Then Eleanor requested something unexpected.
She wanted to speak with me.
Alone.
Daniel advised against it.
So did Sullivan.
I agreed with them.
But I wanted to know why she had asked.
The answer came through her attorney.
Eleanor had a message.
"Tell Claire that Katherine hasn't told her everything."
I felt cold.
The attorney continued.
"Tell her to ask Katherine about the night Thomas died."
For several minutes, I couldn't speak.
Then I called Katherine.
She answered on the second ring.
"Claire?"
"Did you know Thomas Bennett?"
A pause.
"Yes."
"Were you at the mansion the night he died?"
Silence.
"Katherine."
Her voice changed.
"Who told you to ask that?"
"Eleanor."
I heard her breathing.
Then she said, "Claire, I need to explain something."
My heart began pounding.
"What?"
"The night Thomas died, I was still living at the estate."
I sat down.
"But Richard said you were already dead."
"I was supposed to be."
She swallowed.
"Thomas found me."
I gripped the phone.
"Where?"
"In the basement."
Katherine began crying.
"He came down there to get me out."
"What happened?"
"He told me Eleanor had been lying about Mercy. He said he'd found proof that her daughter was alive."
"And?"
Katherine's voice broke.
"Then Eleanor came downstairs."
I closed my eyes.
"Did she hurt him?"
"I don't know."
"What do you mean?"
"There was an argument. Thomas collapsed. I tried to help him."
Katherine began sobbing.
"And Eleanor told me that if I ever spoke about that night, she'd make sure everyone believed I killed him."
I stared at the wall.
For seventeen years, Katherine had carried that threat.
But Eleanor had made a mistake.
She had assumed Katherine was the only witness.
She wasn't.
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Because Thomas Bennett had been wearing a medical alert device.
And Evelyn had just discovered that the company responsible for its monitoring still maintained archived event records.
