Chương 4
A monitor beeped somewhere behind us.
“And what did Rebecca say?”
“She said that wasn’t true.”
Nobody moved.
Chloe drew a careful breath.
“She said there was no finding against me.”
Calder’s face stayed neutral, but I saw the change.
“So Marcus lied about the status of the investigation.”
“I think so.”
“What happened after your call?”
“Rebecca said somebody from corporate investigations would contact me.”
“Did they?”
“Not before Marcus came home.”
“What time?”
“About five-thirty.”
“Was that normal?”
“No.”
“He came home early?”
“Yes.”
“What was his demeanor?”
Chloe looked confused by the question.
“Calm.”
That answer frightened me more than angry would have.
“He asked if I had made any calls.”
“What did you say?”
“I said no.”
“Why?”
“Because he had never asked me that before.”
Calder nodded.
“And then?”
“He smiled.”
Chloe’s good eye drifted toward the window.
“It was weird.”
“What did he say?”
“He said, ‘Good, because people misunderstand things when they panic.’”
Ruth whispered something that might have been a curse.
Calder ignored her this time.
“What happened next?”
“I went upstairs.”
“Why?”
“I wanted my laptop.”
“Where was Marcus?”
“Kitchen.”
“And Sylvia?”
“She wasn’t there yet.”
Chloe’s fingers curled into the blanket.
“My laptop was gone.”
“Personal or work?”
“Personal.”
“Did you ask Marcus?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“He said he’d moved it because I was becoming unstable.”
I tasted metal.
Calder asked, “Had you been drinking?”
“No.”
“Taking medication?”
“No.”
“Any recent mental health crisis?”
“No.”
“Any history of self-harm?”
“No.”
The questions were clinical.
Necessary.
Cruel in the ordinary way necessary things sometimes are.
“What happened when Sylvia arrived?”
“She brought wine.”
“Did you drink any?”
“No.”
“She and Marcus ate in the kitchen.”
“What?”
“Cheese and crackers.”
Chloe blinked.
“I remember because Sylvia complained that the brie was too cold.”
The detail was so useless and so precise that Calder wrote it down.
“Did they speak to you?”
“Not at first.”
“Where were you?”
“In the living room.”
“Doing what?”
“Trying to use Marcus’s tablet.”
“For what?”
“To check my email.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“It was locked?”
“No.”
Chloe swallowed.
“My email password had been changed.”
Calder looked at me again.
I stayed quiet.
“What about your Benton account?”
“Same thing.”
“Could your employer have changed it?”
“Yes.”
“But?”
“I hadn’t gotten any security notification.”
“Where was your phone?”
“On the coffee table.”
“At that point?”
“Yes.”
“Did you still have access to it?”
“Yes.”
“Then what happened?”
“Marcus came in and took it.”
“Did you try to stop him?”
“I asked him to give it back.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“He said I needed to calm down.”
Calder’s voice remained even.
“And Sylvia?”
“She stood in the doorway.”
“What did she say?”
Chloe’s jaw tightened.
“She said Thanksgiving was too important for another scene.”
“Another scene?”
“I asked what she meant.”
“And?”
“She said Marcus’s future mattered more than my feelings.”
Ruth shifted again.
I heard the leather of her purse creak beneath her grip.
Calder asked, “Did she mention another woman?”
Chloe stared at the ceiling for several seconds.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“Lauren.”
“Last name?”
“Pike.”
“Do you know her?”
“I’ve met her twice.”
“Relationship to Marcus?”
“She works at Halcyon.”
“What department?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why do you believe she is his mistress?”
Chloe turned her face toward me.
“Because Sylvia told me.”
Her voice cracked.
“She said Lauren understood what Marcus needed.”
Calder did not interrupt.
“She said Lauren would be sitting beside him at dinner and I was going to disappear before anyone important arrived.”
The word disappear seemed to change the temperature of the room.
Calder set her pen down.
“What exactly did she mean by disappear?”
“I asked.”
Chloe’s breath became shallow.
“What did she say?”
“She said I could go willingly or make it ugly.”
“Did she threaten to kill you?”
“No.”
“Did Marcus?”
“No.”
“What happened physically?”
Chloe stared at her hands.
“I tried to leave.”
“Through which door?”
“Front.”
“Did you reach it?”
“No.”
“Who stopped you?”
“Marcus.”
“How?”
“He grabbed my arm.”
“Which arm?”
“Left.”
Calder glanced at the bruising.
“Then?”
“I hit him.”
That admission came out almost defiantly.
“Where?”
“Face.”
“With what?”
“My hand.”
“Open or closed?”
“Closed.”
Ruth muttered, “Good.”
Calder gave her a look.
Ruth lifted both hands.
“Done.”
Chloe continued.
“Marcus got angry then.”
“What did he do?”
“He pushed me against the wall.”
“Did your head strike anything?”
“I think so.”
“Did you lose consciousness?”
“Not then.”
“Then what?”
“Sylvia said, ‘Stop making this worse.’”
Chloe’s eyes filled again.
“She was talking to me.”
The nurse came in then, took one look at the monitor, and told Calder the interview was over.
Calder did not argue.
Neither did I.
As she stood, Chloe reached for her sleeve.
“There’s more.”
“We can continue later.”
“No.”
Her voice barely carried.
“The rug.”
Calder paused.
“What about it?”
“I threw up on Sylvia’s rug.”
Ruth blinked.
“The five-thousand-dollar Persian rug?”
Chloe nodded.
“I didn’t destroy it.”
“Why did you vomit?” Calder asked.
“I don’t know.”
Then her face changed.
Fear moved through it slowly, as if a door had opened somewhere behind her eyes.
“Wait.”
I stood.
“What?”
Chloe looked at me.
“They made tea.”
Calder took one step back toward the bed.
“Who made it?”
“Sylvia.”
“Did you drink it?”
“A few sips.”
“When?”
“Before I tried to leave.”
The nurse looked at Calder.
Calder looked at the IV lines.
“Chloe, did it taste unusual?”
“Bitter.”
“Did Sylvia drink from the same pot?”
“No.”
“Marcus?”
“No.”
Chloe began breathing faster.
“I thought it was because she used some herbal thing.”
The nurse touched her shoulder.
“Slow down.”
“They drugged me.”
“We don’t know that yet,” Calder said.
“They drugged me.”
“We are going to find out.”
Chloe’s eyes fixed on mine.
“Mom, my phone.”
“I know.”
“No, listen.”
Her fingers dug into my wrist.
“I recorded them.”
Calder froze.
“Recorded what?”
“After the tea.”
“On your phone?”
“Yes.”
May you like
“Where is the phone now?”
Chloe’s voice dropped to a whisper.
