# Chapter 60: The Detective's Secret
Hello everyone, it's me again! How are you all doing? Today I will continue to walk with you and review Chapter 60 of "The Housemaid." I hope you're ready for another emotional twist, because this chapter is a real mind-bender. Let's dive right in.
Nina sat there on her leather sofa, knees pulled up to her chest, staring at the room around her like it might be the last time she ever saw it. The word *handcuffs* kept swirling in her head, along with the terrifying certainty that if she left this house, it would be in them. The police were still upstairs, and Detective Connors was taking his sweet time examining Andy's body. She could feel the walls closing in.
Her purse sat on the coffee table, and she couldn't help it—she reached for it. Maybe she was supposed to just sit still like a good murder suspect, but she couldn't stop herself. She pulled out her phone and tapped the first number on her recent call list.
"Nina? What is going on?" Enzo's voice was full of alarm. "What's happening over there?"
"The police are still here," she choked out. "It doesn't look good. For me. They think..."
She couldn't finish the sentence. *They think I killed Andy.* She hadn't killed him outright—he died of dehydration—but they thought she was responsible. And maybe, in some way, she was. She could end it all right now. She could tell them about Millie. But she wouldn't. That was her punishment.
"I'll testify for you," Enzo said, his voice fierce. "What he did to you. I saw you locked up there. I'll tell them everything."
He meant it. She knew he meant it. But how much would testimony mean from a man who would almost certainly be painted as her secret lover? And she couldn't even deny it. She had slept with Enzo. There was no undoing that.
"Is Cece okay?" she asked, forcing herself to breathe.
"She's fine."
Nina closed her eyes and steadied her voice. "Is she watching TV?"
"No, no, no," Enzo said, and she could almost hear him smile. "I teach her Italian. She is a natural."
Despite everything, a weak laugh escaped her. It was a thin, fragile sound. "Can I speak to her?"
There was a pause, and then Cece's sweet little voice chimed in. "Ciao, Mama!"
Nina swallowed hard, her throat tight. "Hello, sweetheart. How are you?"
"Bene. When are you coming to pick me up?"
"Soon," she lied. "Just keep working on your Italian, and I'll be there as soon as I can." She took a shaky breath. "I love you."
"I love you too, Mom!"
And then she heard the footsteps.
Detective Connors was coming down the stairs, each footstep landing like a gunshot in her chest. She shoved the phone back into her purse, dropped it on the coffee table, and tried to compose herself as he sat down across from her. He had taken a closer look at Andy's body, and his face carried a whole new weight of suspicion.
"So," he said, watching her carefully. "Do you know anything about the bruising on your husband's body?"
Nina blinked. "Bruising?" She genuinely didn't know. She knew about the missing teeth, of course, but she hadn't pressed Millie for the terrible details of what had happened in that attic room.
"There are deep purple bruises all over his lower belly," Connors said, his voice flat. "And all over his... genitals. They're almost black."
"Oh..."
"How do you think they got there?"
Nina raised an eyebrow. "Do you think I beat him up?" The very idea was almost laughable. Andy had been taller than her by a good margin, solid muscle from head to toe. She was nothing compared to him.
"I have no idea what happened up there," Connors said. His eyes locked onto hers, and Nina forced herself not to look away. "Your story is that your husband must have gotten locked in the attic accidentally, and you somehow didn't realize he was gone. Is that right?"
"I thought he was on a business trip," she explained. "He usually takes a taxi to the airport."
"And there were no text messages or calls between the two of you during that time, but that didn't concern you." He was laying it out like a prosecutor building a case. "Furthermore, in talking to his parents, it sounds like he had asked you to move out last week."
Nina couldn't deny that. "Yes, that's right. That's why we didn't talk."
"And what about this Wilhelmina Calloway?" He pulled a small pad of paper from his pocket and glanced at his notes. "She was working for you, wasn't she?"
Nina lifted a shoulder, trying to keep her voice steady. "I gave her the week off. My daughter was off at camp, so I felt like we didn't need her. I haven't seen her all week."
She knew they would try to contact Millie, but she was doing everything she could to take Millie off the suspect list. It was the least she could do after everything she had done to that poor girl. Millie deserved her freedom. Nina had already ruined her life once.
"So you're telling me," Connors said, his eyebrows climbing toward his hairline, "that a grown man managed to get himself locked in a room in the attic—without his phone—even though the room only locks from the outside? And while he was in that room, he randomly decided to pull out four of his teeth?"
When he put it that way, her story sounded utterly insane.
"Mrs. Winchester," the detective said, leaning forward slightly. "Do you really believe your husband is the sort of man who would do something like that?"
Nina leaned back, fighting to hide how much her body was trembling. "Maybe. You didn't know him."
"Actually," he said, and a strange shade of something unreadable crossed his face, "that isn't entirely true."
Nina's heart skipped. "Excuse me?"
Oh no. This just got worse and worse. She looked at him—the graying hair, the sharp eyes, the age. He could easily have been one of Andy's father's golfing buddies, another recipient of the Winchester family's overwhelming generosity. She could practically feel the cold cuffs snapping around her wrists.
But then Connors said something that changed everything.
"I never knew him personally," he said quietly. "But my daughter did."
"Your... daughter?"
He nodded. "Her name is Kathleen Connors. Actually, small world—she and your husband were engaged a long time ago."
Nina's mind went blank. *Kathleen.* The fiancée Andy had broken up with before he met Nina. The woman she had tried so desperately to find, searching over and over again, but always coming up empty-handed. That Kathleen was this man's daughter. The world suddenly felt impossibly small.
The detective lowered his voice until Nina had to strain to hear him. "The breakup was rough on her. She wouldn't talk about it. Still won't. She moved far away after that, changed her name, everything. She hasn't been out on a date with a man since."
Nina's heart was pounding in her ears. "Oh. I..."
"I always wondered what exactly Andrew Winchester did to my daughter." Connors pressed his lips into a thin, hard line. "So when I transferred out here about a year ago and started poking around, I found it interesting that you claimed he had been locking you up in the attic, but nobody could verify your story was real. Although truthfully, it looks like nobody did very much to try. The Winchesters used to have a lot of pull out here before they moved down to Florida—especially with some of the cops." He paused, and his eyes glinted. "But not me."
Nina's mouth was too dry to form words. She just stared at him, jaw hanging open.
"If you ask me," he said, almost casually, "that attic is a hazard. Seems like it's far too easy to get locked up there." He leaned back again, his voice returning to normal volume. "It's a shame that happened to your husband. I'm sure my buddy in the coroner's office will also agree. It'll have to be a cautionary tale, won't it?"
Nina finally managed to breathe. "Yes," she whispered. "A cautionary tale."
Detective Connors gave her one last long, knowing look. And then he turned and went back upstairs to join his colleagues.
And Nina realized something incredible.
She wasn't going to walk out of here in handcuffs after all.
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**Reader's Impressions & Star Rating:**
Oh my goodness. This chapter had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I was holding my breath through every single question Detective Connors asked, waiting for Nina's whole world to collapse. And then—just when I thought all hope was lost—the story took a turn I never saw coming. The fact that the detective himself was Kathleen's father? And that he secretly believed Nina? That he had been investigating the Winchesters all along? It was absolutely brilliant. This chapter is a masterclass in tension and relief, and I felt every emotion right along with Nina. The warmth of her conversation with Cece, the terror of the interrogation, the shocking revelation—it all came together perfectly. I'm giving this chapter a well-deserved rating of:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 4.9 / 5 Stars
**Next Chapter Prediction:**
Now that Detective Connors has essentially let Nina off the hook, I have a feeling the real storm is just beginning. Millie is still out there, and while Nina is safe for now, the police may still try to contact her. Also, what about Enzo and Cece? Will Nina finally be able to reunite with her daughter, or is there another twist waiting in the shadows? I predict that the next chapter will bring a confrontation between Nina and Millie—or maybe even a shocking confession that turns everything upside down. Something tells me the attic isn't done with this family yet.
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