Chapter 14 - Sisters Across the Table
Melissa was arrested the next morning.
Dererick claimed he gave her the sedative but instructed her to use only a small amount.
He said Melissa poured it into Evelyn’s drink because she feared being removed from the trust.
Melissa denied everything.
Anna did not know whom to believe.
Her sister had already confessed to helping stage evidence.
But murder was different.
Investigators reexamined the timeline.
Security footage from a nearby house showed Melissa’s car arriving at 11:40 p.m.
Evelyn’s voicemail began at 10:58.
The drug had already been administered before Melissa arrived.
That cleared Melissa of giving the initial dose.
But it did not explain the ninety-minute delay before calling for help.
During a second interview, Melissa finally revealed what happened.
She found Evelyn unconscious on the bathroom floor.
Dererick said an ambulance would expose the trust dispute and make Melissa look responsible.
He told her Evelyn had taken the medication willingly.
Vale arrived and claimed it was too late.
Melissa believed them.
Then Vale instructed her to help move the amber bottle closer to Evelyn.
Melissa obeyed.
“Did you know she might still be alive?” the investigator asked.
Melissa broke down.
“She was breathing.”
Anna closed her eyes.
Her mother had been breathing.
Melissa had not caused the overdose.
But she had delayed help.
“Why didn’t you call?” Anna asked later.
Melissa could barely speak.
“Dererick said I would go to prison.”
“And Mom?”
“I thought Vale was a doctor. He said she couldn’t be saved.”
Anna looked at her sister across the interview-room table.
Melissa’s fear was real.
So was the consequence.
Evelyn might have survived if help arrived earlier.
“I loved her,” Melissa whispered.
Anna’s voice remained quiet.
“Love without courage did not save her.”
Melissa lowered her head.
Anna did not know whether forgiveness would ever come.
But she knew truth could no longer be negotiated.
She gave prosecutors permission to use every recording.
May you like
Even the ones that implicated Melissa.
Especially those.
