Chương 2
Adrian stood with one hand on the back of his chair while Daniel called the forensic examiner from the far corner of the office.
The conversation lasted less than three minutes.
Daniel gave no names, only an address, a private elevator instruction, and the phrase “possible unauthorized recording device.”
When he ended the call, Adrian was still watching the closed door.
“How soon?”
“Forty minutes.”
“That’s too long.”
“It’s forty minutes.”
“Call someone else.”
“No.”
Adrian looked at him.
Daniel returned the look without interest.
“You hired me because I tell you no when everyone else is trying to invoice you for yes.”
Adrian pulled open the desk drawer and found the silver letter opener Elena had given him on their first anniversary.
He shut the drawer again.
“What about the red folder?”
“We don’t touch her belongings without thinking first.”
“She’s planning to put fraudulent documents in front of me.”
“Maybe.”
“You believe Lily.”
“I believe Lily saw something.”
“That distinction is getting irritating.”
“It’s also the distinction that keeps you out of stupid lawsuits.”
Adrian moved toward the window.
Below, a florist’s van pulled away from the service entrance.
Two hotel vans were parked along the curb for relatives arriving from out of town.
His aunt from Boston had landed that morning.
Elena’s younger brother was somewhere downstairs losing money at poker to three Cross Maritime executives.
The house was full of people who believed they had come to celebrate something.
Daniel joined him near the glass.
“If Elena is involved in corporate theft, she may not be acting alone.”
“She mentioned someone on the phone.”
“According to Lily.”
Adrian exhaled through his nose.
Daniel ignored it.
“If we panic, confront her, or start searching rooms in front of staff, whoever is outside the house may learn we found the device.”
“So we pretend?”
“For a few hours.”
“I’m supposed to rehearse my wedding.”
“Yes.”
Adrian turned.
Daniel’s expression remained perfectly serious.
“You cannot actually be suggesting that.”
“I am suggesting that people who believe their plan is working tend to keep following it.”
“That sounds like something a prosecutor says right before everyone gets arrested.”
“It also happens to be true.”
A knock came at the side door.
Adrian opened it.
Nora Price stood there alone.
Her uniform was covered by a gray cardigan, and a streak of flour marked one sleeve.
She looked first at Adrian, then at Daniel, then at the recorder.
Her face changed.
“Where’s Lily?”
“In your room.”
“What happened?”
Adrian stepped aside.
“Nora, come in.”
She did not.
“Did she break something?”
“No.”
“Because she told me you wanted us upstairs, and she looks like she’s about to throw up.”
“She didn’t do anything wrong.”
Nora’s eyes moved again to the recorder.
“What is that?”
Adrian hesitated.
Daniel watched him.
Nora folded her arms.
“Mr. Cross.”
It was the tone she used when reminding caterers that kitchen knives did not belong in the dishwasher.
Adrian had never heard it directed at him.
“Lily found it under my desk.”
Nora stared.
“She what?”
“She saw someone put it there.”
“Who?”
Adrian glanced at Daniel.
Daniel gave a tiny nod.
“Elena.”
Nora’s face lost color.
“No.”
“That was Lily’s account.”
“No, I mean no, you’re not putting her in this.”
“Nora.”
“She’s seven.”
“I know.”
“She doesn’t know what she saw.”
“She was specific.”
“She makes up stories.”
Adrian went still.
Nora spoke quickly.
“Not lies.”
She rubbed her forehead.
“She’s a child.”
“Nora, she described a conversation.”
“I don’t care.”
Her voice broke on the last word.
She turned toward the service door.
“I’m taking her home.”
Adrian moved after her.
“That may be safest.”
Nora stopped.
She looked back with sudden anger.
“Safest?”
Daniel shifted slightly.
Adrian recognized too late that he had chosen the wrong word.
Nora’s mouth tightened.
“What exactly has my daughter gotten into?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Then don’t tell me safest like I’m supposed to understand what that means.”
“You’re right.”
The apology surprised all three of them.
Adrian tried again.
“I think Lily witnessed something that may involve a legal dispute.”
“A legal dispute.”
“Possibly criminal.”
Nora closed her eyes.
“Jesus Christ.”
She sat on the edge of the leather sofa without being invited.
For years she had worked in the house without leaving fingerprints on the emotional life of its owners.
She knew which guests drank too much, which relatives stole medication from bathroom cabinets, which executives flirted with temporary staff, and which members of Adrian’s family threw away unopened letters.
She almost never commented.
Now she pressed both hands between her knees and stared at the carpet.
“She should’ve been downstairs with me.”
“That’s not relevant.”
“It is to me.”
“Nora.”
“I told her not to wander.”
“She found something important.”
“She could’ve been seen.”
Adrian had no answer for that.
Daniel walked toward the door.
“I’ll check on the examiner.”
He left without waiting for permission.
Nora looked at Adrian.
“Is Elena dangerous?”
“I don’t know.”
“She’s been nice to Lily.”
The sentence sounded like an accusation against reality.
Adrian sat in the chair opposite her.
“She’s been nice to me too.”
Nora gave a humorless laugh.
“Different problem.”
“Probably.”
For a moment neither spoke.
From below came the muffled sound of someone testing a microphone.
One.
Two.
One.
Two.
Then a burst of feedback.
Nora rubbed the flour streak on her sleeve until it spread.
“Lily likes her.”
“I know.”
“She bought her that art set.”
“At Christmas.”
“You remember?”
“She drew on one of my contracts with it.”
Nora looked at him.
“By accident.”
“She improved the margins.”
The corner of Nora’s mouth moved despite herself.
Then it disappeared.
“What happens now?”
“I find out what’s true.”
“And Lily?”
“She goes home with you.”
“And then?”
Adrian looked toward the recorder.
“If anyone asks, she saw nothing.”
Nora’s expression sharpened.
“I don’t teach my daughter to lie for rich people.”
“It isn’t for me.”
“Then who?”
“Herself.”
May you like
Nora rose.
“You think whoever did this might come after her.”
