I frown. “What do you mean?”
“This was an accident. I didn’t push her.” He pauses for a moment. “Right?”
I’m quiet, his words sinking in. If I say he pushed her, he could face charges. Even if it was an accident. And it was, of course. He didn’t mean to hurt her.
He didn’t mean to kill my mother.
“Right. You didn’t push her,” I repeat.
“If you say I pushed her, they could arrest me, Sylvie. You understand the implications behind that? I don’t want to go to jail.”
Panic claws at my insides at the thought of Spencer being arrested for my mother’s death. “I don’t want you to go to jail either.”
“I won’t, as long as we agree that it was an accident, which it was. I didn’t mean to push her. I didn’t mean for her to lose her footing.”
Tears are streaming down my face, but I don’t bother brushing them away. “I know you didn’t mean it, Spence. You were just trying to protect me.”
He rises to his feet, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “Here’s what we’re going to tell them when they arrive. There was an argument between the two of you. I entered the house to find the two of you fighting on the second floor. I ran up the stairs and interrupted the argument, trying to keep you away from her when your mother slipped and fell down the stairs.”
“That’s exactly what happened,” I say with a nod.
“That’s what you’ll tell them?”
“Yes.”
I start to walk down the stairs when Spencer barks out a harsh, “No.” Making me pause.
Making me start to cry harder.
“Don’t come any closer, Syl. You don’t want to see this.” Taking a deep breath, I watch as he taps out 9-1-1 on his phone before bringing it to his ear. “Yes, we need an ambulance. There’s been an accident…”
* * *
The police show up first,their expressions grim when they talk to Spencer. I come down the servants’ stairwell that exits in the kitchen, completely avoiding where my mother is lying, so I can talk to the police as well.
They pull me into a small sitting room that’s right off the foyer, speaking to me alone. I can’t stop crying. I’m a distraught mess and I wish I had Spencer with me, but I know this conversation needs to happen before they’ll let me go to him.
“Tell us exactly what happened,” the one officer tells me, his voice and expression kind.
Opening my mouth, I let the words flow, explaining the entire situation. I give them the chronological details about her showing up out of nowhere, and that I wasn’t expecting her. How our relationship had become strained the last couple of years, especially lately. I don’t mention how she tried to kill me before. How I believe she has mental problems. None of those details matter any longer now that she’s dead.
“What were you arguing about?” the cop asks when I mention our fight.
“Like I said, we weren’t really spending much time together anymore, and I didn’t like how she showed up out of nowhere. I didn’t expect her to be here, and I didn’t want a confrontation with her.”
“Was your mother normally confrontational?”
I nod. “We argued a lot. She argues with all of her children.”
The officer scribbles something on his notepad before lifting his gaze to me. “What you’re telling me lines up with Mr. Donato’s statement. Sounds like it was a terrible accident. I’m so sorry for your loss, Miss Lancaster.”
Swallowing hard, I nod, dropping my head, so I can study my clutched hands in my lap. “Thank you. It’s terrible, what happened.”
The words,I’ll miss her, stick in my throat, and I swallow them down. I don’t want to lie. I won’t miss her.
At all.
We leave the room together, Spencer waiting for me in the foyer, and the moment he sees me, he’s running toward me, hauling me into his arms and holding me close.