The local police officers arrived at the mansion five minutes later.
Red and blue emergency lights flashed bright against the tall windows.
Margarethe walked down the grand staircase with her chin held high.
She claimed the entire incident was just a tragic accident.
She told the lead detective that Elena simply lost her balance.
Elena sat on a velvet sofa with a warm blanket wrapped around her.
Julian held a glass of cold water for her shaking hands.
He looked at the lead officer with steady determination.
He mentioned that the family safe was standing wide open upstairs.
Margarethe stiffened slightly when Julian mentioned the wall safe.
She claimed that the safe only contained old private tax documents.
Julian pulled a shiny metallic flash drive out of his pocket.
He explained that the late father left a digital copy of his will.
The father knew Margarethe might try to alter the original papers.
Julian had worked as the father's trusted estate lawyer for years.
He had kept the backup drive safe in his office desk.
Margarethe's face went completely pale under the harsh foyer lights.
She took a quick step backward toward the dark dining hall.
An officer stepped into her path to cut off her exit.
Julian plugged the small drive into the detective's tablet computer.
A video recording of Elena's father appeared on the screen.
The late father spoke clearly about his true final wishes.
He left the entire mansion and estate directly to Elena.
He explicitly left his second wife Margarethe nothing at all.
He knew she had been draining the company funds for months.
Margarethe yelled out in sudden anger at the screen video.
She claimed the legal recording was a cheap digital fake.
The detective asked her to step into the police cruiser.
Elena stood up from the sofa and walked over to her stepmother.
She looked straight into the eyes of the cruel older woman.
The truth was finally out in the open daylight.