Chapter 6 - Victor’s first explanation
Victor hired counsel before sunrise.
By afternoon, his lawyer released a carefully worded statement to investigators.
Victor admitted transporting me to the warehouse.
Admitted requesting that I sign expanded financial authority.
Denied kidnapping.
Denied intending abandonment.
His position:
I became emotionally agitated during a family financial discussion.
Claire attempted to move the wheelchair.
The chair accidentally tipped.
I refused assistance.
Victor moved my medicine bag out of the immediate area because he feared I would take medication while upset.
The door was chained because the warehouse’s regular locking mechanism was broken.
He believed Claire had remained behind with me.
Claire’s version:
Victor told her he was staying.
Both could not be true.
That mattered.
Victor said he left to “cool down.”
Claire said she left because Victor told her:
“I’ll deal with her.”
They each placed the other in the building.
Neither was there when Eli arrived.
The chain?
Victor acknowledged putting it on.
Why outside?
“The building had been vandalized.”
Why chain it with his disabled mother inside?
“She was not trapped. There is another exit.”
There was.
A rear personnel door.
Rust-seized shut.
Could not be opened from inside without significant force.
Investigators tested it.
Victor claimed he did not know.
Possible.
Then police recovered exterior security footage from a neighboring industrial lot.
Victor and Claire exited together.
Got into separate vehicles.
Drove away within ninety seconds of each other.
No one stayed.
Victor’s story changed.
He had “assumed Claire returned inside.”
Claire’s changed too.
She had “assumed Victor did.”
May you like
Assumptions everywhere.
The chain remained deliberate.
