Chương 5
“Stop talking about her like she isn’t standing here.”
“I’m trying to explain myself.”
“Then explain the purse.”
“I don’t have to.”
Officer Reyes stepped between their lines of sight.
“Mr. Mercer, I need you to give us room to work.”
Daniel almost objected.
The habit rose in him before common sense did.
People usually moved when he told them to move.
Problems usually became meetings, calls, invoices, signatures, things he could push until they changed shape.
Reyes did not look remotely interested in being pushed.
Daniel nodded once.
She directed him and Lily toward the far side of the dining room.
A paramedic asked whether Daniel felt dizzy, nauseated, short of breath, or unusually sleepy.
“No.”
“Any contact with the liquid?”
“It splashed on my shoe.”
The paramedic looked down.
“Skin?”
“I don’t think so.”
“We’ll check.”
Daniel almost laughed at the absurdity of being medically examined for tea he had never swallowed.
Then he saw Lily watching his face for permission to believe he was safe.
He stopped finding anything absurd.
“I’m okay,” he told her.
The paramedic did not contradict him, but she did not confirm it either.
She pulled on gloves and crouched to inspect the damp leather near his ankle.
Across the room, Reyes spoke quietly with Nora.
Daniel could not hear the words.
He could see Nora’s responses in pieces.
A short shake of the head.
Her arms folding.
One hand rising to her forehead.
A glance toward the purse.
That last movement did not help.
Lily leaned against him.
“Are you mad at me?”
Daniel turned so quickly the paramedic looked up.
“What?”
“For breaking your cup.”
He stared at his daughter.
The question was so small that it hurt more than anything Nora had said.
“No.”
“You liked that cup.”
Daniel looked at the shattered porcelain scattered over the marble.
It had belonged to his mother.
He had brought the set out because Nora said using expensive things once a year was ridiculous.
His mother had believed the opposite.
She kept beautiful dishes in cabinets and ate cereal from plastic bowls.
Daniel had mocked her for it.
After she died, he had become strangely protective of the things she had never allowed herself to enjoy.
“I liked you more,” he said.
Lily considered that seriously.
“Even if it was Grandma’s?”
“Especially then.”
The corner of her mouth moved, not quite a smile.
The paramedic glanced away as if giving them privacy.
Daniel touched Lily’s hair.
“Why didn’t you tell me before I picked it up?”
Her expression changed.
“I tried.”
“When?”
“In the hall.”
Daniel searched his memory.
There had been people everywhere.
A fundraiser committee member had cornered him near the staircase.
Marcus had asked whether they should open another bottle of wine.
Someone had dropped a serving spoon in the kitchen.
Lily had tugged his sleeve.
He remembered looking down and saying, Not now, sweetheart.
His stomach turned.
“You tried to tell me?”
She nodded.
“You said grown-ups were talking.”
Daniel closed his eyes briefly.
Nora’s phrase.
His phrase too.
Probably every adult’s phrase eventually.
He crouched in front of Lily.
“I should have listened.”
“You were busy.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
Lily picked at a loose thread near the waist of her dress.
He knew better than to demand forgiveness from a child for something she had not accused him of.
So he stood and let the shame remain where it belonged.
The paramedic asked him to remove his shoe.
He did.
Someone in the sitting room laughed nervously at something unrelated.
Another guest answered with a sharp shush.
The world was still capable of being ordinary five yards away.
Officer Reyes came toward Daniel.
“Nora says the purse contains personal medical items and confidential work material.”
Daniel looked at her.
“And?”
“And she declined consent.”
“You need a warrant?”
“If we decide there’s sufficient cause to seek one, that’s one option.”
Daniel glanced toward the spill.
“You have the tea.”
“We have an unknown liquid with foam on a recently cleaned marble floor.”
He looked at her sharply.
Reyes held his gaze.
“I’m not saying nothing happened.”
“But you’re saying the foam proves nothing.”
“I’m saying we test evidence instead of asking it to look guilty.”
Daniel disliked her for the sentence.
A second later, he was grateful for it.
“What happens now?”
“We document the scene, collect the cup fragments and liquid if possible, speak with the witnesses separately, and determine whether there’s a medical or criminal issue.”
“How long?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel almost asked again.
He stopped himself.
Reyes looked toward Lily.
“I’d also like a child interviewer to speak with your daughter rather than having six adults ask her the same questions in six different ways.”
Daniel stiffened.
“She’s not leaving with anyone.”
“I didn’t say she was.”
Her tone stayed even.
“We can arrange it appropriately.”
Lily squeezed his hand.
Daniel nodded.
Reyes lowered her voice.
“One other thing.”
He waited.
“Did Nora prepare the tea?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who did?”
Daniel looked toward Marcus.
The server was sitting on the edge of a chair near the hallway, elbows on his knees.
His face had gone gray.
“Marcus would know.”
Reyes called him over.
He stood too fast and bumped the chair behind him.
“Sorry.”
Nobody responded.
Reyes asked, “Who brewed the tea served to Mr. Mercer?”
Marcus rubbed both palms against his trousers.
“The kitchen did.”
“Who specifically?”
“Evelyn.”
“Last name?”
“Park.”
“Where is she?”
“In the kitchen, I think.”
The younger officer went to find her.
Reyes asked, “Did Ms. Nora handle the teapot?”
Marcus hesitated.
“I saw her with it.”
“When?”
“Before Mr. Mercer came back to the table.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
Nora had said she topped off his cup.
Marcus continued.
“She told me she’d do it.”
“Why?”
“She said I was needed in the kitchen.”
“Were you?”
Marcus blinked.
“No.”
Nora’s voice came from across the room.
“I asked him to check dessert.”
May you like
Reyes turned.
“I need you not to participate in this interview.”
