One Last Breath (The Governess: Book 3): An irresistibly compelling thriller with a shocking twist by Blake Pierce

Author:Blake Pierce [Pierce, Blake]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2024-08-28T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

I find it far easier to be patient now that I am certain of the culprit. I even manage to interact with Violet without letting on that I know of her secret. I know the truth now. It is only a matter of time before I have what I need to act on it.

I suppose part of my calm is due to the fact that my suspect is less dangerous than any I’ve had so far. Violet is not a threat to me, and she’s not a flight risk either. The estate is kept locked at all times, and the only way to exit is to use a keycard. Violet doesn’t have a keycard, and I am certain no one in the family would allow her to leave the estate. I know that people with dementia are prone to wandering, but there is nowhere for Violet to wander.

I can be more prudent this time. With Cecilia and Eliza, I had to accuse them directly. In Cecilia’s case, that accusation nearly got me killed, and it was only the miraculous intervention of her lover—who happened to be a police detective and unaware of Cecilia’s crimes—that saved me. In Eliza’s, I had to concoct a scenario and manipulate a confession to be recorded by Scotland Yard investigators.

Both were rather shoddy pieces of detective work that succeeded more by chance than anything else. I don’t intend to leave anything to chance here. I am quite sure that all the evidence I need to make a compelling, even an airtight, case against Violet exists on this estate. I only need to find it.

The first order of business is to discover what’s hidden in the secret garden Elizabeth frequents. Now that I’m aware of her mother’s violent history, I suspect that Elizabeth’s fascination with the garden has nothing to do with some mythical Secret Keeper.

But I dare not risk disturbing the flower bed. If I find the evidence I seek there, it might be worth it, but if I don’t, or if what I find isn’t enough to bring the case to the police, then I will paint a giant target on my back, and that could indeed prove dangerous. The other Greenwoods are clearly very protective of Violet. Even Annabelle, who seems to hate her family, hasn’t told anyone that she knows of Violet’s criminal past. If the choice came down to me or her grandmother, I’m under no illusion which choice she would make. I need to find out what secrets that garden holds, but I need to do it without raising the family’s suspicions.

I have no idea how to do that, however.

Thursday arrives again, day twenty-three of my employment at Greenwood Plantation. It is also the first day of August, not that the milestone means anything other than to alert me that the weather will remain hot and humid for several more weeks. I am told that August is the wettest month and that the rain will bring the opposite of relief from the humidity.

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