Chương 8
Elena had asked for the receiver to be moved to a dedicated outlet.
Bell replied that he would handle it.
“Did he?” Priya asked.
“I thought so.”
“Thought?”
“The receiver worked afterward.”
“Until the gala.”
Priya printed the email.
The fire marshal called Elena that evening. Investigators had found that the first fire alarm signal from the conservatory had been delayed because the zone was placed in test mode during the gala setup. Test mode did not disable every alarm, but it routed the initial sensor alert to the monitoring company for verification before a full evacuation signal.
“Who authorized it?” Elena asked.
“We’re still establishing that.”
“Charles told security not to interrupt his speech.”
“Who told you that?”
Elena hesitated.
“Someone who may not speak if I give you his name.”
“Then I cannot use it.”
“He was fired.”
“Ms. Brooks, people call us anonymously all the time. They can also have counsel present. But you should not relay statements for someone else. Tell him to contact us.”
“I already did.”
The fire marshal paused.
“Do you have an attorney?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Nathan called at three thirty the next afternoon. He sounded formal.
“Grandma is sitting here.”
“All right.”
“She says I can talk for twenty minutes.”
“That is a long time.”
“It isn’t.”
Margaret spoke near the phone. “I said approximately twenty minutes.”
Nathan ignored her.
“Did you see the orchid?”
“Yes.”
“Is it dead?”
“Most of it is damaged.”
“That means dead.”
“Not always. One root looked healthy.”
“Can we save it?”
“We can ask the fire department when it can be removed.”
“Grandpa says everything in there belongs to the insurance company now.”
“That is not exactly how insurance works.”
Margaret made a small sound.
“What?” Nathan asked her.
“Nothing.”
Elena told him the chair would be transported to the mobility repair center. A loaner chair would arrive the following morning. Nathan complained that the temporary chair made him look like “someone waiting for a bus inside a hospital.”
“That is very specific,” Elena said.
“It has gray wheels.”
“Tragic.”
“Grandma wants to hire another caregiver.”
Elena glanced at the clock though she had nowhere to be.
“That makes sense.”
“I told her no.”
“You need help with some things.”
“I need you.”
Margaret spoke gently. “Nathan.”
“What? That is true.”
Elena looked down at her bare kitchen table. At the manor, Nathan would be sitting near the window in the morning room, one wheel touching the baseboard because he never stopped at the angle she suggested.
“You need someone who is there,” Elena said.
“Then come back.”
“I can’t right now.”
“Because Grandpa says?”
“Because the adults are sorting out what happened.”
“You went into the fire, but you can’t go through Grandpa?”
Margaret inhaled sharply.
Elena almost answered too quickly. She made herself wait.
“The fire was simple,” she said. “You were inside. I had to get you out. This is not simple.”
“I don’t care.”
“I know.”
His voice became smaller.
“Do you still work for me?”
“No.”
“Then why do you call?”
“Because I care about you.”
“Is that allowed?”
Elena pressed her fingers against her eyes.
“Yes,” she said. “For now.”
After the call, Margaret remained on the line.
“He barely slept,” she said.
“Has he seen the psychologist?”
“He refused.”
“Did Dr. Keane come to the house?”
“He said he would speak only to you.”
“That isn’t the same as refusing.”
Margaret was quiet.
“I did not agree with Charles dismissing you.”
“But you let him.”
“Yes.”
The plainness of the answer made Elena look up.
“I have let Charles do many things because opposing him required energy I thought should be spent on Nathan,” Margaret said. “It was a convenient theory.”
“What do you want from me?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Then call when you do.”
Three days after the fire, the county released preliminary findings. The ignition likely began in temporary decorative lighting concealed behind the floral wall. Several extension cords were connected beyond the manufacturer’s recommended load. The alarm zone had been placed in test mode at the request of the event’s production contractor after repeated false signals caused by theatrical haze used during rehearsal.
The production contractor produced an email from Lorraine approving the request.
Lorraine produced a text from Charles: Fix the alarms before guests arrive. I will not have another interruption.
Charles’s attorney argued that he had meant repair the fault, not suppress alarms.
Public admiration for the rescue gave way to accusation. News vans parked outside the manor. Donors demanded answers. The children’s hospital postponed the announcement of a new rehabilitation wing funded by the Cole Foundation.
Then an anonymous source told a gossip site that Elena had abandoned Nathan during the gala to socialize with guests.
The article included a photograph of her leaning over Mrs. Fenwick’s chair, one hand on the woman’s shoulder. The caption described Elena as laughing.
In the actual moment, Mrs. Fenwick had coughed a piece of chicken onto Elena’s sleeve and whispered, “If I die at this table, do not let them serve the mousse.”
Elena had laughed because Mrs. Fenwick had been breathing again.
The image had no sound.
Within hours, strangers who had called Elena brave called her negligent. A former home-care colleague contacted a reporter and said Elena had always been “emotionally involved” with clients. The phrase spread because it sounded suspicious without identifying misconduct.
Elena’s agency suspended her from its referral list pending review.
She sat in Priya’s office while Priya read the notice.
“They are protecting themselves,” Priya said.
“I haven’t worked through them in three years.”
“They still list you as affiliated.”
“Can they investigate me?”
“They can review whether you complied with agency policy during your prior placement. Your state caregiver certification is separate. No licensing board has contacted us.”
“Yet.”
“Yet.”
May you like
Elena disliked that Priya did not soften facts, which was also why she trusted her.
Priya slid a printed screenshot across the desk. “The family says the leak did not come from them.”
