Chương 12
“Did Howard speak to you?”
“Daniel did.”
Simone stopped turning pages. “Your husband pressured you?”
“He said the crane delay was costing two hundred thousand a day. He said Luis confirmed the welds.”
“Did Luis confirm them?”
“In a project note.”
“Written by Luis?”
“Entered by the project manager.”
“Which project manager?”
Mara looked at the name.
Nico Hanover.
For six months, Nico had been presented as a peripheral family embarrassment who happened to be filming. Mara had forgotten that Howard placed him at Riverton for nine months under the title development liaison. Nico attended coordination meetings, carried messages, and complained that construction dust ruined his shoes.
Mara called Priya.
“Nico entered the field confirmation that justified my release.”
“Send it.”
“He told me Bernard directed him to edit the video.”
“Send that too, in a memo describing the call.”
“He may know who changed the records.”
“Or he may have followed instructions without understanding them.”
“Can we compel him?”
“In civil discovery, eventually. The licensing hearing comes first.”
Nico did not answer when contacted through counsel.
That evening, Evelyn appeared at the hotel.
Mara saw her through the peephole and considered pretending not to be there. Evelyn knocked once, waited, and sat on the hallway carpet with her back against the opposite wall.
She wore jeans.
Mara had seen Evelyn in riding clothes, gardening clothes, tennis clothes, mourning clothes, and a silk robe during a fire alarm. She had never seen her in ordinary jeans.
Mara opened the door but left the chain attached.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“I know.”
“Did you take the hammer?”
“No.”
“The notebook?”
“No.”
“Did Howard?”
“I don’t know.”
Mara began closing the door.
Evelyn lifted a large brown envelope. “I brought Daniel’s medical records.”
The door stopped.
“What medical records?”
“Therapy. Prescriptions. Howard intends to use them at your hearing.”
Mara unhooked the chain.
Evelyn entered and looked around the hotel room without commenting. Her attention rested on the clothes still scattered from the search.
“He had no diagnosis that explained what happened,” she said. “Anxiety. Insomnia. He was given medication, then stopped taking it because he disliked how it made him feel.”
“How did Howard get these?”
“The family office paid for treatment.”
“That doesn’t make the records his.”
“No.”
“Did Daniel authorize you?”
“No.”
Mara took the envelope. “Then why do you have them?”
Evelyn sat in the recliner. “Because nothing in our family remains private if Howard pays the bill.”
Her hands looked strange without rings. She had removed all of them, including her wedding band.
Mara remained standing.
“What happened after I left the hall?” she asked.
Evelyn studied the blank television screen.
“Howard told security to collect phones. Bernard said the video had to be contained because the board vote was close.”
“What board vote?”
“To remove Howard as chief executive and install Daniel.”
Mara stared at her.
“It was scheduled for the Monday after the collapse,” Evelyn said. “Daniel had support from four directors. He needed five.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“He didn’t know whether the fifth would commit.”
“Who was it?”
“Me.”
The air conditioner rattled beneath the window.
Evelyn folded her hands in her lap. “My family trust controls a board seat. Howard assumed I would abstain. Daniel asked me to vote with him.”
“Did you agree?”
“I said I would decide after he showed me proof.”
“The drive.”
“Yes.”
“Why were you supposed to get it from me?”
“Howard believed Daniel gave it to you.”
“He didn’t.”
“I know that now.”
Mara looked at the brown envelope.
“Did you vote with Daniel?”
“The vote never happened.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Evelyn’s eyes closed briefly. “I told him I would.”
Mara sat on the edge of the bed. “Howard knew?”
“He suspected.”
“Did he send Daniel to Riverton?”
“No.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Did anyone tell him evidence would be destroyed that morning?”
Evelyn looked at her.
The hesitation answered before the words did.
“Nico called Daniel,” she said.
Mara stood again.
“When?”
“Before dawn. Howard asked Nico to oversee removal of old project servers from the field office. Daniel had been trying to access them. Nico called him because he was frightened.”
“Frightened of what?”
“Being blamed later.”
“He warned Daniel the servers were being removed.”
“Yes.”
“So Daniel rushed to Riverton.”
“Yes.”
“And Howard knew he would.”
“I don’t know.”
“Evelyn.”
“I don’t know what Howard knew. That is how he keeps people loyal. He lets us know enough to obey and not enough to accuse.”
Mara walked to the window. Evening traffic moved along the interstate, red lights in one direction and white in the other.
“Nico entered a false field confirmation,” she said.
Evelyn covered her mouth.
“You didn’t know?”
“No.”
“Did Howard?”
“I don’t know.”
“Stop saying that.”
“It is the truth.”
“No, it’s the room you hide in.”
Evelyn looked down at her bare left hand. A pale band marked where the ring had been.
“I was supposed to get Daniel’s evidence before the board meeting,” she said. “Not for Howard. For myself. I wanted to see whether I could vote against my husband without destroying everything my children depended on.”
“Daniel was your child.”
“Yes.”
The word broke in the middle.
Mara had seen Evelyn cry beautifully at funerals, eyes shining but makeup intact. This was different. Her face folded without permission. She turned away and pressed her fist to her mouth.
“I thought there would be time,” she said.
Mara remained by the window.
Comfort would have been easy. It would also have been dishonest.
After a while, Evelyn placed a key card on the desk.
“What is that?”
“Daniel rented a storage unit under my assistant’s name.”
Mara did not touch it.
“How do you know?”
“I paid the bill after he died. Howard thinks the unit was cleared.”
“Was it?”
“I removed the boxes Howard knew about.”
“What did you leave?”
“A steel case. I could not open it.”
May you like
“Why tell me now?”
Evelyn looked toward the missing hammer.
