Chapter 11 - NICOLE’S CHOICE
Nicole requested a meeting through her attorney after the insurer suspended the $18 million claim pending investigation. She had resisted police questioning for months, but the combination of the recordings, beneficiary records and Charles’s medical paperwork made her position increasingly dangerous.
Rebecca agreed to attend with Ortiz.
Nicole appeared without makeup and looked older than her thirty-eight years. She began by saying she never wanted Arthur dead. Rebecca asked why she threatened to blame Anita if Arthur changed the will.
Nicole closed her eyes.
“Charles told me Anita was trying to turn Arthur against me.”
“That doesn’t explain the threat.”
“No.”
Nicole admitted she put medication in Arthur’s tea without telling him. She said Charles described it as part of a physician-approved plan to stabilize his sleep and reduce confusion during a stressful financial period.
“Why hide it from Arthur?” Ortiz asked.
“Because he stopped trusting anything Charles arranged.”
“And you thought secretly medicating him would improve that?”
Nicole did not answer.
She said Arthur became suspicious and began refusing drinks she prepared. Charles told her Anita was encouraging paranoia and that removing the nanny would reduce conflict. Nicole signed the dismissal.
Then Arthur announced he intended to change the will.
Nicole panicked.
She feared losing the marriage, the home and the financial security Charles promised the Meridian transaction would preserve.
That explained her threat.
Not excused it.
Nicole then described Thursday night. She gave Arthur his tea shortly after eight-thirty. He became drowsy but remained able to argue. Charles arrived later. Nicole went upstairs after Charles told her he needed to discuss trust matters privately with Arthur.
She claimed she did not return to the study until Arthur was found unresponsive.
Ortiz asked why she shouted for the dictaphone to be turned off in court.
“Because I knew what I said.”
“And because Arthur named you.”
“Yes.”
Nicole looked down.
“Because I thought everybody would believe I killed him.”
The confrontation nearly produced a useful distinction between Nicole’s conduct and Charles’s, but her next answer complicated it. Ortiz asked whether Charles brought anything into the study.
Nicole hesitated.
“A document case.”
“What was inside?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did he bring medication?”
“I didn’t see any.”
“Did he ask you to remove Anita from the room?”
Nicole looked up sharply.
That was answer enough.
Charles had told Nicole to ensure Anita stayed with Paige until he finished speaking to Arthur. Nicole called Anita upstairs under the pretense that Paige was upset.
She had helped isolate Arthur.
Nicole claimed she believed Charles wanted a private legal conversation.
Rebecca asked whether she still believed that after hearing the recovered clock recording.
Nicole started crying.
“No.”
The meeting ended when Nicole’s attorney advised her to stop answering questions.
She had admitted enough to strengthen charges involving covert medication, threats and evidence manipulation.
She had not confessed to murder.
Charles’s attorney immediately accused Nicole of shifting blame to protect herself.
Then investigators discovered a problem with the old clock file.
A small segment appeared to have been deleted after Arthur’s death.
The clock remained in the study for two days before police collected it.
Who accessed it?
Household security logs showed Charles returned to the mansion the morning after Arthur died.
He entered the study alone.
He remained there for nineteen minutes.
Nicole was at the medical examiner’s office identifying Arthur’s personal effects.
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Charles had an opportunity to erase the final recording.
And the original investigation never asked why he came back.
