“I was the one who called.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Someone called ninety seconds before you.”
Eleanor’s expression tightened.
“But nobody was there.”
“That’s the problem.”
He raised his phone.
“The caller reported Mrs. Halston’s location before she collapsed.”
A chilling silence settled over us.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
Daniel’s answer was careful.
“It means someone knew exactly where she would be.”
Then he added:
“And her collapse may not have been an accident.”
Part 4 — The Woman From Route 18 Had Been Followed
Eleanor refused to return home.
Her attorneys wanted immediate protective security.
Daniel suggested transferring her to a private medical facility.
But Eleanor insisted on understanding what had happened.
We moved into a larger conference room upstairs while Halston’s security team reconstructed her movements that morning.
She’d left her estate at 6:40.
At 7:10, she’d visited a bakery she’d frequented every Saturday for fourteen years.
