Chapter 8 - Mrs. Caldwell
Judith Caldwell was seventy.
Retired high-school principal.
She had lived beside Victoria for twelve years.
They were not friends.
Polite neighbors.
She told police she noticed something strange around 4:10.
Victoria crossed the lawn with a rolling suitcase.
Arthur followed.
Judith waved.
Victoria did not wave back.
Then Judith heard banging.
She looked toward the steam room.
Saw me through the fogged window.
At first she assumed the door had jammed.
Then she saw the padlock.
“I thought maybe I was misunderstanding.”
She waited perhaps fifteen seconds.
Then the window shattered.
That ended doubt.
She called 911.
Her statement mattered because she had no family allegiance.
No financial dispute.
May you like
No reason to help me “destroy the Bennetts.”
Just a woman who saw a pregnant neighbor behind a locked door.
