Detective Miller set up a controlled call, instructing David to contact Eleanor immediately on his mobile phone.
David hit the speaker button, keeping his breathing steady as the phone rang three times across the line.
Eleanor: Hello, David dear.
Eleanor: Is everything alright at the house today?
David: Eleanor, I need you to come over right now.
David: We found something in the storage area under the stairs while cleaning up today.
There was a long silence on the other end of the line, heavy and filled with sudden unspoken tension.
Eleanor: What are you talking about, David?
Eleanor: That closet is just full of old construction supplies and painting materials from last year.
David: No, Eleanor, it wasn't empty.
David: Michael's son is sitting in my kitchen eating lunch with Emily right now.
A sharp gasp came through the speaker, followed by the sound of car keys jingling nervously on glass.
Eleanor: David, don't do anything reckless!
Eleanor: I can explain everything if you just give me twenty minutes to drive over there!
David: Don't bother driving here, Eleanor.
David: The police are already standing in my foyer listening to this entire call.
The line went completely dead as Eleanor hung up the phone in a panic on her end of the line.
Detective Miller immediately radioed units to intercept Eleanor's vehicle near her home in downtown Dallas.
Within an hour, news arrived that Eleanor had been detained by officers while trying to leave her office.
She had kept Leo hidden in low-income housing before moving him into David's house during a desperate move.
She hoped to claim the multi-million dollar trust fund for herself before anyone discovered the boy existed.
David walked back into the bright kitchen, where Sarah was wiping tears of relief from her red cheeks.
Leo was sitting close to Emily, coloring a picture book with bright wax crayons on the clean counter.