Chapter 5: The Lake House Trap
Arthur Vance was a careful man, but arrogance was his weakness. Richard and Victoria formulated a plan, refusing to let the police bungle the case with circumstantial evidence from a blackmailer. They needed a confession.
They leaked a rumor through the company board that Richard had found Lily's old diary in a storage unit, which supposedly contained a child's drawing of the "bad man" at the lake house. It was a bluff, but a desperate man would bite.
Under the guise of a weekend retreat, they returned to the rebuilt lakeside property. Emily insisted on coming.
"You aren't going near him," Victoria argued, her hands gripping Emily's shoulders.
"He took eight years from us," Emily replied, her voice steady. "I am not hiding."
The confrontation happened at midnight. Arthur, unable to let the risk go, broke into the property looking for the non-existent diary. When he crept into the study, the lights blazed on.
Richard, Victoria, and Emily stood waiting.
"Arthur," Richard said softly.
Arthur froze, his eyes darting to the exits. "Richard. I... I saw the door open. I was worried about intruders."
"The only intruder here is the man who locked a six-year-old girl in a burning house," Victoria said, stepping forward. The cold fury in her eyes made Arthur take a step back.
Realizing he was trapped, Arthur's polite veneer cracked. "It was supposed to be empty!" he shouted, desperation making him reckless. "You were supposed to be at the gala! I didn't know she was in there until she came to the door. If I let her out, she would have told you she saw me!"
"If I let her out, she would have told you she saw me."
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From the adjoining room, a tape recorder clicked. But more importantly, two detectives from the state police—whom Richard had secretly stationed in the kitchen—stepped into the hallway.
Arthur’s face drained of color as the handcuffs clicked around his wrists. The monster who had haunted Emily's nightmares, who had fractured her family, was suddenly just a pathetic, greedy old man being led out into the rain.
