The hallway was still echoing when Detective Marsh asked me to come to the station that morning. I assumed he simply needed another statement. Instead, he brought me into a small room, placed a laptop on the table, and explained that the wiretap had captured something nobody expected. Before Celeste came upstairs, she had made one hurried phone call from the lobby. Marsh pressed play, and her voice filled the room.

“Once she’s declared unfit, nobody reopens the balcony file,” Celeste whispered. Then a man answered. The moment I heard his voice, my blood turned cold. I knew it immediately. It belonged to someone who had stood beside me at Paul’s funeral and held my hand while I cried. “Don’t worry,” he told Celeste. “She’ll never learn what really happened to Paul.” Detective Marsh stopped the recording and quietly asked whether I recognized him. I could barely speak as I gave him the name: Walter Briggs, my late husband’s business partner and closest friend. Click continue reading below