CHAPTER 115: Not Her

POV: Avalon Pierce

Avalon noticed that Catherine, seated across from them with her hands clasped together, appeared worn out, her expression more fatigued than remorseful.

"Catherine spoke in a hushed tone, 'Margaret is mistaken about who has control over that account, or to be more precise, she's correct about the flow of money, but incorrect about the person actually pulling the strings.'"

"Explain," Selene said.

Catherine spoke up, "The account is mine, but after I was in the hospital, I gave someone permission to handle my finances." She paused, looking down at her hands. "I trusted Diana to take care of things while I was getting better," she said, her voice a little shaky.

The room went very still.

"Diana worked with the government to build our case," Avalon explained, choosing his words carefully. "Without her, we wouldn't have half the evidence we do today."

"She cooperated," Catherine said, "and in doing so, she made herself useful to the prosecutor and invisible to suspicion. Nobody questions the person who handed over the evidence."

Selene looked at Avalon.

"Diana had a way into your account” she asked Catherine, her voice low and serious. "And a reason to use it, too?"

"What motive," Avalon said.

Catherine was quiet for a moment.

"Diana didn't just give Hale information because he made her," she said, choosing her words carefully. "At first, I think she did some of it on her own, willingly. But then it got out of control. Whitmore was aware of that. He even threatened to tell everyone that Diana was a willing participant, not someone who was forced, if it meant he'd get a lighter punishment."

Selene warned, "She'll end up losing the entire deal, everything she's worked so hard to negotiate will just fall apart."

"Everything is at stake," Catherine said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Her freedom, and possibly even the rest of her life, hang in the balance."

Avalon sat back, processing.

He spoke slowly, his words dripping with realization. "She's been just a phone call away from every single part of this investigation," he said, his eyes locked on some point in the distance. "I mean, think about it - she's the one who tipped us off about Whitmore, who warned us about that car lurking outside our building, who sent us Henderson's file." His gaze shifted to Selene, a look of understanding passing between them. "It's clear now - she's been pulling the strings from the inside all along, managing this whole thing with precision."

"Maybe she's really trying to be helpful," Selene said, "and now we're on the verge of accusing someone of murder, all because of something she was allowed to know about."

"Catherine spoke up, her voice firm. 'There's only one way to find out for sure,' she said. 'I haven't had a chance to talk to my lawyer about this particular situation yet, I wanted to fill you in personally, before things get more complicated and other people start to get involved.'"

"Why," Avalon asked.

"Catherine spoke up, her voice filled with concern. To you, Diana is more than just a name on a piece of paper, she's someone you've put your faith in, someone who's been entrusted with sensitive information about your family. I don't want to be the one to unfairly damage that trust, so if I'm mistaken about this, please tell me."

They left just after two in the morning.

Selene just sat there in the car, not saying a word for what felt like a really long time.

"Do you believe her?" she asked.

Avalon spoke up, "I'm convinced the account access is genuine." He paused, collecting his thoughts before continuing, "However, I'm not entirely sure it implies what Catherine seems to think it does."

"Diana has always been there for us," Selene said, "helping us out every time we needed it, without fail."

"I know."

"Doesn't that count for something."

"It means everything," Avalon said, her voice firm. "That's why I have to talk to her myself, instead of just guessing what she might think."

His phone buzzed.

Margaret.

He answered immediately.

"I cross-referenced the visitor logs at the facility where Whitmore was held," Margaret said. " Looking for anyone connected to Catherine's account who had physical access in the past month."

"And?"

"Nobody visited," Margaret said. " But someone called the facility seven times in the two weeks before Whitmore died. Same number, every time. I traced it."

"Whose number," Avalon said.

Margaret was quiet for a moment.

"The phone is registered to Diana," she explained. "However, the calls were made from different locations every time - always from payphones, and using burner numbers that were conveniently located near those payphones. It seems like someone was trying to avoid being traced, and they knew exactly how to do it. But, for some reason, they slipped up this one time."

Avalon spoke up, his words coming out slowly. "That's not Diana's style," he said. "She's always careful, always thinks things through. There's no way she'd make a mistake like that."

"Unless someone wanted it to look like Diana," Selene said softly.

Avalon looked at her.

"Someone must have been aware of her connection to Catherine's account," Selene said, her voice low and thoughtful. "They knew exactly how to set her up, to make it look like she was the one who did it."