Chapter 5
Scarlet picks up the call
Distorted voice (on phone)
You’re digging in the wrong dirt. Charles isn’t your problem.
Stop now… before you end up like the others.
Scarlet
They knew we were after Charles.
Jennie
(Grabs her tablet, pulls up the security footage again, the one with Charles near each death scene.)
Jennie
Maybe.... We missed something
Scarlet
(leans over, scanning the timestamps. Then she pauses)
Scarlet
Wait. Look at this.
She enlarges one frame: Charles arriving at the estate, but the timestamp is 17 minutes after her mom’s estimated time of death.
Jennie
That can't be right
Scarlet swipes to another image, a man in a police uniform, face partially hidden by a cap, entering through the back gate ten minutes before her mom died.
Scarlet
That’s not Charles. That guy’s taller… thinner.
Jennie
(Sudden realization)
Jennie
They wanted us to think it was Charles
Jennie
(rushes to her father’s archive cabinet, pulling out employee background checks. She finds Charles Dane’s record, clean. But tucked in the back is something else.)
Jennie
A copy of a complaint.....filed by Charles?
Scarlet
(Reads it over her shoulder)
Scarlet
He reported a breach. Three days before your mom died. Said someone used a stolen uniform and faked entry credentials.
Jennie’s hand trembles as she pulls out one final document, a visitor log, heavily redacted.
Jennie
This was covered up
Scarlet
And Charles tried to stop it
Jennie
He wasn't part of it. He was trying to warn us
The room feels colder now
Scarlet
So if he’s not the killer... who are we really chasing?
Jennie
(looks up, eyes fierce)
Jennie
Whoever’s behind this is close.
And they’re not just a killer… they’re inside the system.
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