But for the first time, the possibility was spoken aloud.
We weren't simply three women sitting in a neighbor's living room.
We might be three generations of the same family.
The following morning, Detective Ortiz called with urgent news.
Agnes Vale had been arrested.
Investigators had located her in a rented cottage nearly two hours away.
She'd been living under an assumed name while maintaining contact with Marian and several people connected to Silver Hearth.
Evidence recovered during the investigation indicated that her reported death had been deliberately staged.
The organization had used false documentation to support the story.
And Agnes had apparently intended to reappear only after the property transactions were complete.
I felt sick.
“So she really planned all of it?”
“Investigators have recovered records linking her to the recruitment of Alex and the targeting of the Seven Oaks members,” Ortiz said. “The full extent of each person's involvement will be determined through the legal process.”
