Chương 6
Words like assault often sounded more frightening than the injury itself because they belonged to a world beyond the house.
“Is he being arrested?” she asked.
“We’re still sorting out the timeline and reviewing what can be documented tonight.”
He spoke carefully.
“Do you have medical records from when the arm was treated?”
“Yes.”
“Where were you seen?”
“St. Matthew’s urgent care.”
“When?”
“Thursday night.”
“Did you tell them how it happened?”
Emily hesitated.
“I said I fell.”
The sergeant nodded without judgment.
“Did anyone ask whether you felt safe at home?”
“A nurse did.”
“What did you say?”
“That I was safe.”
He wrote something down.
“That doesn’t prevent you from telling us something different now.”
Emily looked relieved and ashamed at the same time.
I disliked how often those emotions arrived together in rooms like this.
The sergeant continued.
“We’d also like photographs of any bruising, if you consent.”
Emily looked at me.
“Dr. Chen can document everything medically,” I said.
The sergeant nodded.
“That would be useful, but we’ll still need our own documentation.”
“All right,” Emily said.
Another officer approached from the sidewalk.
He spoke quietly to the sergeant.
I caught only two words.
Child custody.
The sergeant looked at Emily.
“Your husband says your daughter is with her grandfather.”
“Yes.”
“He says he doesn’t want you removing her tonight.”
Emily went rigid.
“He doesn’t get to decide that.”
“I’m not saying he does.”
“Then why are you telling me?”
“Because I don’t want you surprised when this gets complicated.”
That answer, at least, was honest.
Emily pressed her lips together.
“Can I get her?”
“If there’s no court order restricting either parent, both parents generally have rights here, but I’m not going to give you family-law advice.”
He glanced toward the house.
“And I strongly recommend you avoid a confrontation tonight.”
I could already hear the old prosecutor in my head constructing options.
Call family counsel.
Send someone with Emily.
Document the exchange.
Keep witnesses present.
Secure the child before Adrian could manipulate the situation.
I forced myself not to say any of it.
Emily had accused me, correctly, of turning lives into cases.
So I asked one question.
“What do you want to do?”
She looked at me as though the question itself was unfamiliar.
“I want Sophie.”
“Then we’ll get advice before we move.”
Her shoulders lowered slightly.
Not because I had solved anything.
Because I had not.
David came outside carrying his briefcase.
Raymond followed him.
“Margaret,” David said.
His face told me something had changed.
“What?”
He glanced at Emily.
She noticed.
“Don’t do that.”
David paused.
“Do what?”
“Decide whether I’m fragile before you tell me something.”
He shifted the briefcase to his other hand.
“Fair.”
He looked at both of us.
“I just received a call from the chair of Westbrook’s audit committee.”
Adrian appeared behind the screen door.
David continued.
“Someone accessed the company’s payment system remotely about twenty minutes ago.”
Emily stared at him.
“From where?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Doing what?”
“Attempting to void a series of vendor records.”
Adrian opened the screen door.
“That proves nothing.”
Nobody had asked him.
David looked at him.
“The attempt originated using executive-level credentials.”
Adrian gave a contemptuous smile.
“Then check the logs.”
“We are.”
“I haven’t touched a computer.”
Emily turned slowly toward him.
Adrian looked almost relieved.
“You all saw me.”
He lifted his hands.
“I’ve been standing in this house surrounded by police.”
David’s expression did not change.
“I know.”
The relief disappeared.
“What does that mean?”
“It means the question is no longer whether you personally logged in tonight.”
David looked toward the dining room.
“It means we need to know who you expected to do it for you.”
Celeste stopped moving.
It was only a fraction of a second.
But Emily saw it.
So did I.
And for the first time that evening, Adrian looked at his mother with fear.
Celeste’s face changed before she could stop it.
Not guilt exactly.
Recognition.
Adrian saw it too.
“What did you do?” he asked.
She lifted her chin.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
David’s phone vibrated in his hand.
He glanced at the screen.
“Another login attempt.”
Celeste reached for her handbag.
Raymond moved one step toward the front hall.
“Mrs. Westbrook, I’d stay here.”
“You have no authority to detain me.”
“Correct.”
He nodded toward the officers.
“They may have questions.”
Celeste looked at them and then at Adrian.
Her composure had returned, but not completely.
The hand holding her purse strap trembled.
Adrian noticed.
“You logged in.”
“I did no such thing.”
“You know my credentials.”
“So does half your office.”
“That isn’t true.”
Claire spoke from beside the overturned chair.
“Actually, it sort of is.”
Everyone looked at her.
She swallowed.
“You emailed your password to me last Christmas because you wanted me to fix the investor presentation from your laptop.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“That was temporary.”
“You never changed it.”
“How would you know?”
“Because you asked me to log in again in March.”
Nolan stared at his brother.
“You use the same password for everything?”
Adrian snapped, “This is not the time.”
“It’s definitely not a great time.”
The sergeant raised one hand.
“Everybody stop talking about passwords.”
Nolan closed his mouth.
Claire looked down.
Celeste sank slowly into the nearest chair.
I watched her purse settle against her knee.
The zipper was open.
Inside, I could see the corner of a tablet.
David saw it too.
He did not point.
He simply looked at the sergeant.
The sergeant followed his gaze.
“Mrs. Westbrook, is that your device?”
Celeste clutched the purse shut.
“That is none of your business.”
“It may become our business depending on what happened tonight.”
“You need a warrant.”
David’s eyebrows lifted slightly.
She knew enough to make things difficult.
That was not illegal.
It was also not reassuring.
Adrian stepped toward his mother.
“Did you access the system?”
May you like
Celeste looked at him.
“After everything I have done for you, you’re going to stand there and interrogate me?”
