Chapter 13 - The Statement in the Rain
An hour later, the driveway of Blackwood Manor was filled with emergency vehicles.
Fire engines pumped water onto the smoking, charred skeleton of the mansion, but there was nothing left to save. The grand structure had been reduced to a hollow stone shell filled with black ash and twisted iron.
Arthur sat on the rear bumper of an ambulance, wrapped in a heavy emergency blanket, holding a paper cup of warm tea that he hadn't touched. A paramedic was putting clean white bandages over the deep cuts on his hands and forehead.
A senior detective from the State Criminal Investigation Bureau stood before him, holding a wet notepad and a pen.
"Mr. Pendelton," the detective said gently, his voice full of solemn gravity. "We've taken Maria's statement, and the preliminary investigation of the cellar door and the master suite confirms it. Eleanor Pendelton deliberately locked your daughter in the cellar and set the fire using an accelerant."
Arthur nodded silently, his eyes fixed on the rising sun over the ocean. "And her body?"
The detective sighed, looking toward the cliff edge where coast guard personnel were scanning the rough water with powerful spotlights.
"The tide is extremely strong along this point of the coast, sir," the detective explained softly. "With a three-hundred-foot drop into those rocks during a storm... it's unlikely the recovery team will find anything. We are officially listing her as deceased by suicide following an attempted double homicide and arson."
Arthur took a slow, deep breath, feeling the cool morning air clear the last of the smoke from his lungs. "Thank you, Detective."
"Where will you go now, sir?" the detective asked, looking at the smoking ruins of the estate. "The house is a total loss."
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Arthur looked across the driveway, where Lily and Clara were sitting in the back of a police cruiser, watching the sunrise together, eating warm pastries provided by a female officer. Lily was holding her sister's hand, a small, fragile smile appearing on her face as Clara made her teddy bear dance on the dashboard.
"We're going away from the sea," Arthur said softly. "Away from the cliffs. Away from the past."
