Martha sat down on a small chair near the corner of the room. Her hands were shaking so hard she had to clasp them tightly in her lap. Eleanor stood beside the window, watching the maid intently while keeping her voice soft and calm.
Eleanor: Take a deep breath, Martha. Just tell me the truth. Why did you hold Lyra down?
Martha: Mrs. Victoria threatened me, Miss Eleanor. She said if I didn't help her, she would fire me immediately.
Eleanor: Losing a job is no reason to let a child get hurt, Martha.
Martha: You don't understand! My nine-year-old son has leukemia. The family health insurance plan covers his treatment at the hospital. Mrs. Victoria said she would cancel his health coverage tonight if I didn't follow her orders!
Eleanor closed her eyes for a brief moment, feeling a sharp pain of sympathy mixed with deep rage at Victoria's cruelty. Victoria had used a mother's desperation as a weapon to abuse a child.
Eleanor: She trapped you, Martha. But helping her commit a crime will destroy your life forever.
Martha: I know! I was so scared! When she brought out the scissors, I realized how crazy she really was!
Eleanor: What did Victoria plan to do after I got back?
Martha: She was going to call the emergency services and file a report. She paid a private doctor in town to write a fake medical report saying Lyra was mentally unstable!
Eleanor: A fake medical report? Who is the doctor?
Martha: Dr. Harrison from the city clinic downtown. Victoria paid him fifty thousand dollars from her personal account yesterday.
Eleanor nodded slowly. The pieces of the puzzle were coming together. Victoria was building a legal case to strip Eleanor of her guardianship and seize the twenty million dollar trust fund. But Victoria did not realize that Martha held the key to ruining her plan.
Martha: Miss Eleanor... I did something before you walked into the room. I was so frightened that I turned on the voice recorder on my phone in my apron pocket.
Eleanor stepped forward quickly, her eyes wide with sudden hope.
Eleanor: You recorded the conversation?
Martha: I recorded everything. From the moment she threatened to take my son's medical insurance, to the moment she grabbed the scissors and scratched Lyra's neck.
Eleanor: Martha, do you realize what you have in your hands?
Martha: It is the proof that Mrs. Victoria lied about everything.
Eleanor: If you give me that audio file, I will personally hire the best legal team to protect your son's health insurance forever. I will pay for his medical treatment out of my own pocket, no matter what happens to your job.
Tears welled up in Martha's eyes. She pulled a small smartphone out of her apron pocket and handed it directly to Eleanor.
Martha: Take it, Miss Eleanor. Please save little Lyra from that terrible woman.
Eleanor took the phone and immediately transferred the audio recording to her secure cloud drive and sent a copy to her divorce lawyer and criminal defense team. Now she had the weapon she needed to crush Victoria in court.