Chương 6
They were four years old.
They had also been among the models stored on my drive.
“Daniel,” I said, “what are you afraid of?”
He looked down at his hands.
“That somebody is trying to make the missing money look like it started before your marriage.”
The pain medication suddenly seemed inadequate.
“Through me.”
“I don’t know.”
“You came to a hospital room with a detective present.”
“I didn’t know she’d be here.”
“You still stayed.”
Daniel exhaled.
“Yes.”
“Then stop protecting yourself for thirty seconds and tell me what you think.”
He stared at the floor.
“I think somebody wants auditors to believe you created the structure used to move the money.”
Nora stood so abruptly her chair scraped the floor.
“Who has seen these records?”
“Internal audit.”
“Anyone outside the company?”
“Not yet.”
“Does Flynn know?”
Daniel hesitated.
That hesitation frightened me more than his answer.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“I told him this morning.”
“What did he say?”
Daniel looked at me.
“He told me not to contact you.”
Nora laughed once without humor.
“There it is.”
I raised a hand.
“Why?”
“He said you were recovering and he would handle it.”
“Handle what?”
“He didn’t say.”
Detective Ruiz closed her notebook.
“Mr. Cho, I’m going to need you to preserve everything you just described.”
“I already issued a litigation hold internally.”
“Good.”
“And I called outside counsel.”
“Better.”
He nodded, but he did not look relieved.
After he left, Nora walked to the window and stood with her arms folded.
Ruiz remained near the foot of my bed.
“Your husband has terrible timing,” she said.
“Apparently it’s a family trait.”
She almost smiled.
Then her face became serious again.
“Do not contact Ms. Cole.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Do not contact your husband about any of this.”
“That might be harder.”
“Why?”
“Because I need a divorce attorney.”
Nora turned.
“I already called one.”
Of course she had.
Ruiz looked between us.
“Attorney communication is your business.”
She put away her notebook.
“But anything involving the financial records may become evidence.”
“What about my drive?”
“We’ll seek it.”
“Selina may destroy it.”
“Which is why you’re going to let us do our job.”
I disliked being told to wait.
For most of my adult life, money had been something I could analyze until it confessed.
Numbers behaved.
They could be manipulated, but manipulation left patterns.
Marriage had turned out to be considerably less disciplined.
That afternoon, Flynn called.
I watched his name vibrate across the tablet Nora had synced to my account.
Once.
Twice.
Five times.
On the sixth call, Nora reached over and silenced it.
“You don’t have to answer.”
“I know.”
“He’s going to keep calling.”
“I know.”
“You could block him.”
I looked at the dark screen.
“I know.”
She sighed.
“You’re very irritating when hospitalized.”
“I’m delightful normally.”
“No one has ever said that.”
A message appeared.
Please let me explain.
Another followed.
I did not know about Selina’s accusation beforehand.
Then another.
I did not help her hurt you.
Nora read them over my shoulder.
“Well, that’s extremely specific.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t answer.”
I didn’t.
Five minutes later, another message appeared.
The camera outage was supposed to last twenty minutes.
Nora and I looked at each other.
“He’s panicking,” she said.
I took a screenshot.
Then I forwarded the messages to Detective Ruiz.
Flynn called again.
This time I answered.
Nora mouthed something obscene.
“Mabel.”
His relief was immediate.
“Are you okay?”
“What do you want?”
“I need to talk to you before people turn this into something it isn’t.”
“What is it?”
Silence.
“Mabel, I made mistakes.”
“You stabbed me twice.”
“I’m not talking about that.”
The casual distinction made my stomach turn.
“What are you talking about?”
“Selina.”
I waited.
He breathed into the phone.
“I gave her the garage remote.”
My eyes closed.
“When?”
“Months ago.”
“Why?”
“She needed access to some documents.”
“She doesn’t work for you.”
“I know.”
“Then why did she need access to documents in our house?”
“She was helping me with something personal.”
“What?”
He hesitated.
“Flynn.”
“She was having financial problems.”
I stared at the wall.
“So you paid her.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“Four hundred thousand dollars isn’t like what?”
His silence confirmed that Daniel had been right about at least one thing.
Flynn knew.
“She was being blackmailed,” he said.
That was unexpected enough to stop me.
“By whom?”
“I don’t know.”
“You gave someone you believed was being blackmailed unrestricted access to our home?”
“It wasn’t unrestricted.”
“She had a garage remote and a key.”
“I gave her the remote.”
“Who gave her the key?”
Another silence.
I heard traffic behind him.
He was outside somewhere.
“Mabel, listen.”
“Who gave her the key?”
“I did.”
Nora shut her eyes.
I felt strangely calm.
“Why?”
“Because she said someone had been entering her apartment.”
“So you gave her a key to mine?”
“It was supposed to be temporary.”
“How long?”
“Eight months.”
I almost admired the audacity required to describe eight months as temporary.
“Did you sleep with her?”
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
“Ever?”
“Not since before you and I met.”
“Do you love her?”
His breathing changed.
“That isn’t what matters right now.”
It was the answer he had been giving me for three years without saying it.
I looked toward the window.
Clouds had gathered over the city, turning the buildings silver.
“Did you know the cameras were going offline Thursday?”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell Selina?”
“No.”
“Did she know about the service appointment?”
“I don’t know.”
“You discuss our security system with her?”
“No.”
“Does she have access to your email?”
“No.”
“Your calendar?”
A pause.
“My assistant sometimes includes her on personal scheduling.”
Nora mouthed, Unbelievable.
I kept my voice steady.
“Why?”
“Because Selina helps with some family foundation events.”
“Did she know I was home?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you?”
May you like
“Yes.”
“Then when she walked in claiming I’d attacked her somewhere else, why didn’t that strike you as impossible?”
