Note: This is an alternate version of this story where she survives.
In the Thrombeys' living room:
Marta Cabrera stood, in front of the ring of knives, while listening to Benoit Blanc as he was stating Ransom Thrombey's plan to frame Marta with murder of Harlan and Fran. Ransom sat in a nearby chair, his expression unreadable, listening to Blanc's theory with Lieutenant Elliot and Trooper Wagner standing somewhere behind Ransom. "He goes to the will reading in high spirits, ready to see the family tear themselves apart, secure in the knowledge that it will all be undone when the tox report comes to light."
"And then, Marta's confession. And everything turns on it's head. He now realizes that Marta has committed no crime and the toxicology report proves her innocence. The changed will is gonna stand. He has lost." Blanc said, turning to face Ransom. "Unless. Unless you decide, you're not going to give up the money. You've come this far. Just one step further. Just one last act. In for a penny, in for a pound. You decide that you are in."
"Step One: destroy all evidence of Marta's innocence. Step Two: send her the anonymous email with a late morning rendezvous time and deliver her the blackmail notes. Step Three: keep your appointment with Fran. Now the board is set, Marta will get the blackmail note and you'll put the pieces together for her. You'll guide her to the rendezvous. You'll make the anonymous call to the police and they will catch her there with the body and burned evidence. Marta will get arrested for killing Fran, and Harlan." Blanc continued.
"She said..." Marta started as she just now realized what Fran was trying to say. "She didn't say, 'You did this'. She wasn't talking about me. She said, 'Hugh did this.' Because you made the help call you Hugh. Because you're an asshole."
"And it would have worked, if we hadn't had brought you in for questioning, so you could not make your anonymous call. And if Fran had not stashed a safety copy of the tox report. And if Marta had not outplayed you once again, by having a kind heart. By saving Fran's life, though it meant her losing the inheritance, and going to jail. She didn't play your game, she saved Fran's life." Blanc stated.
Ransom looked at Marta before looking back in Blanc's direction. "Fran's alive?" asked Ransom, as an expression of fear briefly seen on his face before disappearing.
"Oh, yes. Fran, who will confirm this fairy story, or something close to it. And send you, Hugh, to jail." Blanc stated as Marta answered a call on her phone. Ransom briefly looked at Blanc before everyone's eyes settled on Marta.
"Yes?" Marta asked into the phone as the doctor told her about Fran's condition. "Doctor, that's great news. We'll be there soon. Thank you." Marta then ended the call and turned around to face the 4 men in the room. "She's okay. She's ready to talk." Marta said, sounding relieved with a small smile. Ransom just looked at the girl before looking down at the ground.
"Trooper Wagner, if you could keep Mr. Drysdale in custody, while Lieutenant Elliott, Miss Cabrera, and myself, we go to the hospital and take Fran's statement."
"Up. Come on." Lieutenant Elliott said, as he checked his watch while Ransom stood up from the chair he had been sitting on. Ransom looked at Marta, then dropped his gaze to the ground. Ransom seemed to make up his mind before getting close to Marta to tell her something, while breaking his poker face into a grin.
"I'm going to say this just to you. No cameras, no courtroom, just you, because you know it's true. We allowed you into our home. We let you watch our granddad. We welcomed you into our family. And now you think you can steal it from us? You think I'm not going to fight to protect my home, our birthright, our ancestral family home?" Ransom stated while the girl just remained quiet.
Blanc suddenly burst out laughing at Ransom's claim. "That is hooey! Harlan, he bought this place in the '80s from a Pakistani real estate billionaire."
"Oh, shut up, Blanc! Shut up! Shut up with that Kentucky fried Foghorn Leghorn drawl! Yeah, I killed Fran, but I guess I didn't. So what do you have on me? Nothing! What? Attempted murder? I get arson for the building, and a few other charges. With a good lawyer, which I have, I'll be out in no time." Ransom snapped. He was already tired of hearing from Blanc and then he turned to Marta. "And then you'll see just how much hell I can wreak on your life, you vicious little bitch."
Ransom looked at the girl who seemed to be holding something back. He was caught off-guard when Marta suddenly vomited on him. "What the shit?!" He exclaimed, as the girl fell down to the floor, kicking a chair backwards and coughing, which caught Blanc, Elliott and Wagner off-guard as well.
"That means she was lying!" Trooper Wagner exclaimed, a bit too excitedly.
Lieutenant Elliott covered his mouth with his sleeve. "Yeah, man. We know."
"That's right. Fran's dead." Marta said, wiping her mouth and then looking at Blanc before turning to Ransom. "And you just confessed to her murder." Ransom look from the girl to Trooper Wagner who turned his phone around revealing that he had been recording the entire time. Marta stood back up, wiping her mouth as Ransom was looking like he was thinking about something.
Ransom looked at the different people in the room. "Well, in for a penny.." Ransom muttered as he quickly grabbed a knife from the ring of knives, which let out a ringing sound against the metal. From there, everything seemed to play in slow motion, as he moved towards Marta, who was busy wiping her mouth again, when she noticed Ransom's actions and realized his intentions. The girl was terrified as she held her arms out in a futile attempt to stop Ransom as he grabbed her shoulder, and lunged forward. Blanc was slowly rushing forward from his position on the floor, Lieutenant Elliot started rushing forward to stop Ransom, while Trooper Wagner just stood there watching it happen, since it wasn't registering in his head what's happening in front of him. Ransom had Marta by the shoulder with the knife raised above his head, as he fell on top of her, as Blanc and Elliot were shouting something inaudible.
Marta just looked at the knife, praying that it would miss her body, as Ransom followed her to the floor. There was a loud thud on the ground as the two bodies landed on top of each other followed by the sound of a knife cutting through clothing and piercing flesh followed by Marta's pained cry. "Take that, you vicious, little bitch." Ransom muttered, with a grin, once he realized that the knife he grabbed was real, before Blanc and Elliot dragged him off her, a few moments later.
Marta just stayed where she was on the ground as she listened to Trooper Wagner say something to Ransom as he was put in handcuffs and walked outside. The arenaline wore off and that's when the pain became noticable, along with the realizaton that Ransom had tried to kill her by stabbing her.
Detective Blanc came back in the room, followed by Lieutenant Elliott, to check on her and they finally got a good look at her current situation. "Ah shit." She heard Detective Blanc mutter. The two men were looking at Harlan's nurse lying on the ground with a knife lodged in the center of her chest and trying to figure out how bad it is.
"I think that wound might be fatal but I don't know. We have to leave it in there." Lieutenant Elliott said to Detective Blanc.
"Call an ambulance now." Detective Blanc said, as Lieutenant Elliott left the room, as he dialed the nearest hospital. "We need a ambulance at the Thrombey Mansion. We got a stabbing victim, still alive. Get here as soon as you can." Elliot said, his voice disappearing as he left the house.
Their voices faded into the background as Marta thought about her mother & sister, Alica. "Goodbye mom and sis." Marta said quietly.
Meg just watched as the police dragged Ransom out of the house in handcuffs to their police car. Richard was following the officer while trying to bribe him, just to let Ransom go. The officer soon left the house as Richard was shouting at Linda to get the attorneys on the phone. Meg wasn't entirely sure what to think about Ransom getting arrested but he deserved it.
Meg watched as Lieutenant Elliott came outside the mansion, requesting an ambulance urgently before he hung up. Detective Blanc came outside, and said something to Elliott, before disappearing back inside the house. Meg didn't entirely know what happened but something felt wrong to her: Harlan was dead, Fran was missing and more than likely dead, and Ransom has been arrested. She hadn't seen Marta since they kicked the family out of the house and took Ransom to the living room. Meg began wondering if something happened to Marta, and before she knew it, she was running back to the house, up the stairs, and past Lieutenant Elliott on the porch, who didn't really try hard enough to stop her.
She made her way into the living room, and saw Detective Blanc standing near the ring of knives, and Marta was just lying on the floor. Meg walked over to get a better angle and what she saw made her cover her mouth in horror, and she wanted to scream: Marta was lying on the floor with a knife lodged in the center of her chest, as he clothing was stained with blood. She didn't do that and instead rushed over to comfort Marta instead, and placed Marta's head in her lap.
"Excuse me miss, you aren't supposed to be here." Lieutenant Elliott said, as he walked into the room.
"Lieutenant, Give them a few minutes." Detective Blanc said, as he stepped away from the ring of knives. "Meg, Marta is a strong girl. She will be fine." Blanc said, as he followed Lieutenant Elliott out of the room.
"Hey Meg. You are going to be fine. You have to be." Meg said, trying to reassure both girls, as Marta just nodded in response. Meg didn't want to think about Marta dying, since she considered her and Fran, her best friends, and as a family member (even if they weren't blood related), and she didn't want to lose Marta, since she lost both Fran and Harlan recently.
"Thanks Meg, for trying to help take my mind off it." Marta said, quietly, as she groaned from the pain, as Meg just lightly rubbed Marta's head.
"Once you recover, I will take you and we can do something together. Won't that be fun." Meg said, as she reached for Marta's hand and gently squeezed it, in a friendly manner.
"I'm looking forward to that." Marta said, quietly, as her breathing became shallow. "I love you, Meg, and I want to help you through your semester." Meg loved her as a friend, and she felt glad that Marta wanted to help her, regardless of what her family though.
"I love you too. You are going to be fine, and you will be seeing your mother and sister again." Meg said, feeling strangely confident about the situation. "We can worry about everything else later, as you recover."
After a few minutes, Meg heard sirens approaching the house, which had to mean that the ambulance has arrived. "She's in here." She heard Detective Blanc say, as he walked into the room followed by two EMTs with a stretcher. "How is she?"
"She's fine, considering the circumstances." Meg said, standing up, as the two EMTs gently picked up Marta and placed her on the stretcher, before wheeling the stretcher back out front, and loading her into the ambulance, as Detective Blanc and Meg just watched as the ambulance drove away.
"Come on. I'll drive you to the hospital once she gets out of surgery." Detective Blanc said, looking at where the ambulance was, before turning to Meg.
Sometime later in the hospital:
Marta groaned as she slowly woke up, and the first thing she saw were bright overhead lights. She groaned again, as she closed her eyes and tried to use an arm to cover her face, only to be met with pain.
"Hey Marta. How are you feeling?" A nurse asked, walking over to her patient.
"Really tired and in pain." Marta muttered, as she lifted her head, to look for the nurse.
"You got out of surgery about a 3 hours ago. The doctor said you did good but you'll have to take it easy for a little bit and you'll need someone to take care of you."
"Doctor? What happened?" Marta asked, groggily, as she slowly woke up to her surroundings.
"You were stabbed in the chest. Luckily, you got here just in time." The nurse said, before walking away for a few minutes to let Marta wake up and become more alert. "Would you like some visitors?" The Nurse asked, returning again after Marta became more alert, to which she just nodded, and the nurse walked away.
A few moments later, the nurse returned with Alice (her sister), her mother, Meg, and Detective Blanc. "Marta, I was very concerned when I heard the news but I'm glad that you are alright." Alice said, gently hugging Marta so she doesn't hurt her sister.
Marta's mother looked relieved as she saw her daughter lying in the hospital bed, recovering, and reached for her hand and squeezed it. Blanc just gave her a smile before he walked away.
"Now, you just need to recover. It will be painful but I'll help you through it. It's the least I can do." Meg said, with a light smile, as Marta just rested her head back on the pillow and went to sleep.