Margret confronts Joseph at her family's estate and offers to buy his shares of the family business for a large sum. If he refuses, she threatens to divorce him, ensuring he gets nothing and loses access to their daughter. Shocked by her threats, Joseph leaves in a panic. He is later interrogated by a detective about the death of Margret's uncle years ago. Margret unexpectedly arrives and reveals to the detective that the money in Joseph's account came from her brother Edward, unknowingly providing an alibi.

1. Joseph arrived at the Williamses’ estate in the late afternoon to face a
vengeance he believed not even he could have imagined. He entered the manor and
was quickly greeted by Emily, who informed him Margret was waiting in her
father’s study and wished to speak with him immediately.
The room was dim as he approached the desk where she was sitting, and the
darkness constricted his sight as he approached with caution. The reception he
encountered was distant and cold and, above all, detached. For the first time in all
the time he had known Margret, he feared her.
“Welcome home,” she said in a soft and tender voice.
“Forgive me if I don’t seem too enthused about it. What on earth are you
doing?” he demanded.
“I have a proposition for you, one I’m sure you will approve of since it’s
something you’ve wanted for quite some time.”
She immediately caught his attention, but a lingering worry still troubled
him, and the unknown was tantalizing him beyond belief. “And what would that
be?” he asked.
“My brother and I want to buy your shares in J&J Enterprises, and we are
willing to offer you a very handsome sum.”
“Your brother can go straight to hell, and you can go right with him,” he
replied.
“I don’t think you understand, Joseph; if you don’t sell me your shares, you’re
only going to get what you’ve wanted for so many years: a divorce. I will file
immediately and give you exactly what you want, and like you said yourself in
Tisbury, you would be perfectly fine in fending for yourself. You will be left with
nothing but the possibility of spending the rest of your life behind bars. But then I
guess you have some sort of plan going on in that head of yours that will allow you
to fend for yourself. Those were your exact words, weren’t they, Joseph? I know all
about the extortion you carried out when you first met me. And if that wasn’t
enough, you decided to dip your fingers into the cookie jar once again before you

2. moved to New York. How much of my brother’s money does Mr. Jackson Bennett
have?”
Was this some kind of a sick joke? he wondered. What had Edward conjured
up this time? For it seemed completely out of character for a woman who had fought
so hard and firmly to keep her husband. What had changed? “I don’t believe you,”
he said.
“Well, believe this: I’m divorcing you if I don’t get those shares. Don’t even
bother to fight me on this. There isn’t a judge in this country who would grant you
custody. Why I’d be surprised if you were even granted visitation after I’m done
with you. I’m the one who can provide our daughter with all the essentials she
needs, unlike you, who will enter into a life of constant struggle or maybe even
worse. Make your choice—Allison or 5 percent of J&J Enterprises.”
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He was shocked beyond words as he
stared at the innocent beauty queen who had been stranded so long ago on a dirt
road, worrying if anyone would come to her rescue. At that point, he wished he had
driven over her or at least continued on his merry way to Beth. “I need to get out of
here.”
“Don’t you walk away from me!” she shouted.
But he did walk away, and he drove around for hours not knowing where he
was going, until he decided to book a room at a local bed-and-breakfast with a cash
bar, on the other side of town. He entered the lounge and ordered a much-needed
drink to calm his nerves, but in an instant, his privacy was invaded.
“Good evening, Mr. Hall! I’m surprised to see you at this end of town. What
brings you here?”
“I’m having a drink, Detective Eking, or is that against the law?”
“No, on the contrary. Don’t mind if I join you? That’s a very impressive car
you got there, and I notice it has a New York license plate.”
He started to shiver, wondering exactly where the detective was heading.
“Well, I live in New York,” he said.

3. “Oh, yes, that’s right! You work at J&J Enterprises in Manhattan. But you
know what sticks out about that car? The license plate ends in a 5 … and it brings
me back to a cold and wintery night 5 years ago, the night Franz Adler died in a fire
at his own home. You see, we searched and searched, but the only thing that
appeared to be out of the ordinary that night was a dark-colored car bearing a New
York plate ending in a 5.”
“And what does that have to do with me?” he asked.
“Well, I would say your car fits the description, wouldn’t you?”
Joseph sat quietly while sipping his drink and considered where the detective
might be going with this, for he had thought all along that Sophie was his prime
suspect in Franz’s death.
“The night Franz died, I didn’t own a car, let alone one with a New York
license plate ending in a 5. Also, that happened years ago, and I’ve managed to get a
car since then.”
“So you say. You know many people change their cars but keep the same
plated, and then there’s this other little thing that has bothered me for quite some
time, and that’s the fact your bank account grew substantially just days after
Franz’s death. Do you care to explain that, Mr. Hall?”
Joseph was losing his patience with the wild accusations the detective was
implying but remained calm for the time being. Losing his temper would only make
him look guilty, and being charged with a crime he didn’t commit was the last thing
he needed on his plate. “Am I under arrest, Detective? Because if I’m not, I don’t
have to answer any more of your ludicrous questions. I’m beginning to think you
spent your entire career blaming anyone who ever stayed at the Williams estate.”
“You don’t have to get so hostile, Mr. Hall; I’m just doing my job,” he said.
“And what job would that be? Harassing anybody who ever knew Franz.”
The detective appeared just as Edward had visualized him, a blood-sucking
vulture soaring through the sky and then swooping down to devour his helpless
prey.

4. “All I need to know is where you got a quarter of a million dollars several
days after Franz died. That’s all.”
“He got it from Edward,” a woman’s voice replied.
Joseph’s body trembled with fright. He turned with great surprise to see
Margret, for he didn’t realize she had followed him to the inn. He felt cornered on
every level.
Without any interruption on his part or the detective’s, she spoke again.