Contents
47. Carter
Overview
Carter sees Eden alive at The Manor, chases her, and is nearly run down as she escapes in a red Mini. A nurse proves the woman is recorded as staff member Mary Kendall, not Eden. With Gabriella confirmed onsite, Carter doubts his assumptions and questions the dead woman’s identity.
Summary
Carter is stunned to find Eden Fox alive at The Manor and feels betrayed, believing their past intimacy meant nothing. He pursues the woman, who has been using the name Mary, as she sprints through the grand staircase and dining room toward the gardens.
Outside, Carter blocks a red Mini on the driveway, but the driver—whom he believes is Eden—accelerates, forcing him to dive aside as she speeds away. Concluding she will not return, he decides to question Gabriella, whom he suspects warned her.
Inside, Carter confronts a nurse in white, demanding to see Gabriella. The nurse refuses and leads him to the office, insisting the fleeing woman is Mary Kendall, a vetted employee, not Gabriella’s mother. She blames Carter for distressing Gabriella and offers Mary’s staff file as evidence.
Faced with the records and Gabriella’s confirmed presence onsite, Carter’s confidence collapses. He reconsiders Old Stu’s account of a second woman, acknowledges Gabriella hasn’t left The Manor, and realizes his assumptions about Eden, Harrison, and the cliff death may be wrong.
The chapter ends with Carter doubting his entire theory and asking the central question: if Eden is alive, who was the dead woman on the beach?
Who Appears
- Sgt CarterDetective who spots Eden alive at The Manor, chases her, and then doubts his entire theory.
- Eden Fox / Mary KendallWoman Carter believes is Eden; flees in a red Mini. Staff records identify her as employee Mary Kendall.
- Ingrid (nurse)Manor nurse who stops Carter, confirms Mary Kendall’s employment, and defends Gabriella’s wellbeing.
- Gabriella WoolfResident Carter wants to question; confirmed onsite, undermining his suspicion she followed Eden.
- Old StuWitness previously reported a second woman; his credibility is reconsidered by Carter.