Evelyn thrashed in the water, her silk robe heavy and soaked, but Officer Davis reached down and pulled her firmly out of the tub onto the marble floor.
The metallic click of the handcuffs rang sharply through the bathroom as he pinned her wrists behind her back.
Evelyn: Richard! Tell him to stop! I am your wife!
Richard: You are a murderer, Evelyn. And as of this second, you are nothing to this family.
Officer Davis: We need to search the master bedroom safe immediately, Mr. Sterling. The prosecutor wants all financial records secured.
Richard: Follow me, Officer. The safe is behind the oil painting in my study.
Elena gently wrapped a warm towel around Lily's shoulders, lifting the little girl into her arms as they followed Richard and Officer Davis down the grand hallway.
Evelyn thrashed against Officer Davis's grip, her bare wet feet sliding across the hardwood floor as two secondary police officers escorted her toward the study.
Inside the spacious study, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined the walls. Richard stepped up to the large portrait above the fireplace, swinging the heavy gold frame open to reveal a steel wall safe.
Richard: Evelyn had the secondary access code. Evelyn, open the safe.
Evelyn: I'm not opening anything! You have no legal right to look inside my private documents!
Officer Davis: We have an emergency search warrant signed by the state magistrate, Mrs. Sterling. Enter the code or our forensics team will cut the hinges with a torch.
Evelyn sneered, keeping her mouth shut tight. Richard looked at Elena, who stepped forward with a small brass key.
Elena: Try this key, Mr. Sterling. I found it tucked behind the lining of her jewelry box yesterday.
Richard took the brass key, inserting it into the manual keyhole beneath the digital keypad. He turned it clockwise, and the heavy steel door clicked open with a deep thud.
Inside lay stacks of cream-colored legal folders, along with three small glass vials filled with clear liquid.
Richard: Look at these documents, Officer.
Officer Davis pulled the top folder out, opening it under the desk lamp. His eyes scanned the pages, growing darker with every second.
Officer Davis: This is a forged power of attorney form dated three days before Sarah Sterling passed away.
Richard: She transferred my wife's private stock portfolio directly into a shell company in the Cayman Islands!
Evelyn: Sarah signed those papers voluntarily! She wanted me to manage her daughter's trust!
Lily: Mommy told me she would never give her papers to Evelyn! She told me in the hospital!
Elena: Look at page four, Officer. The notary stamp is dated two weeks after Mrs. Sarah was already in a coma.
Officer Davis: That's grand forgery and federal wire fraud, Mrs. Sterling. This document alone carries twenty years in state prison.
Evelyn collapsed onto her knees on the study carpet, her soaked silk robe spreading around her like a dark stain as tears finally began to spill down her cheeks.
Evelyn: Richard... please... think about what people will say at the country club! Think about our reputation!
Richard: You burned my daughter's scalp, you murdered my wife, and you tried to steal our entire life work. You don't get to talk about reputation.