Chương 8
Then the radiator hissed.
She dropped her spoon.
Mara looked up but did not ask whether she was all right. She stood, adjusted the valve, and complained that landlords had been conspiring against heating systems since the invention of rent.
Claire finished the soup.
The investigation moved in uneven pieces.
Malcolm recovered portions of the recording from the secondary archive Mara had removed. The video contained the confrontation from two angles, but the audio skipped at several critical moments. It clearly showed Nathaniel taking Claire’s left wrist and pulling her toward him. It showed Claire twisting away. It showed him placing one hand against her shoulder with enough force to send her sideways into the tea table.
It did not clearly show the slap from the previous night.
It did not prove who had deleted the main drive.
The cloud provider preserved account logs after receiving legal process. Someone using Nathaniel’s credentials had changed the password and attempted to delete stored motion events from a laptop connected to Alder House’s internal network.
The laptop’s identity had not yet been established.
Nathaniel claimed his credentials were used by multiple employees.
Three employees confirmed that was common.
Mara said it was not.
Becca Lowe was found in a town two counties away, working at a dental office and living with her cousin. She initially refused to speak to investigators. Then she called Claire directly.
“How did you get this number?” Claire asked.
“Mrs. Bell gave it to my cousin.”
Claire turned toward Mara, who was folding towels on the sofa.
Mara concentrated on the towels.
Becca’s voice was younger than Claire remembered. “I’m not getting involved.”
“You don’t have to.”
“They told me you said I had a picture.”
“Mara said that.”
“I deleted it.”
“I heard.”
“Mr. Vale said he would have me arrested.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t do anything.”
“I wore gloves.”
Becca was silent.
Claire looked at her own wrist. The red marks had faded to yellow at the edges.
“I knew you took the picture,” she said.
“No, you didn’t.”
“I saw your phone.”
“You told me not to worry.”
“I didn’t want you to know.”
“You didn’t want yourself to know.”
The cruelty of the sentence was clean and deserved.
Claire sat down.
Becca continued, “I’m not saying that to be horrible.”
“You’re allowed.”
“No, I’m not. I liked you.”
“Liked?”
“I don’t know you now.”
The child upstairs began the six piano notes again.
“Why did you take the picture?” Claire asked.
“Because he grabbed you in the pantry. You thought no one saw. I wanted proof in case he said I was lying.”
“Did you show anyone?”
“My cousin. Then I deleted it from my phone.”
“Was it backed up?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. I got a new phone.”
Claire heard Mara stop folding.
“Would you let an investigator check?”
“I said I’m not getting involved.”
“He threatened you.”
“And then I lost my job. My landlord called because someone told him I stole from my employer. My mother asked why police might come to her house. I had panic attacks every time a black car stopped outside. You stayed with him.”
Claire had no defense.
“I did.”
“So don’t tell me to be brave now that you finally need something.”
“I won’t.”
The line went quiet.
Claire expected Becca to hang up.
Instead she said, “He was always nicer the morning after.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“That was the worst part.”
“Yes.”
Becca began to cry, then apologized for crying, then became angry at herself for apologizing.
Claire listened.
They did not discuss evidence again.
Two days later, Becca called Lena Ortiz and agreed to meet.
Julian visited the apartment on Saturday with groceries Claire had not requested. He brought coffee, bread, apples, milk, eggs, prenatal vitamins, and six cans of a soup Claire disliked.
Mara examined the cans. “This is mostly sodium.”
“I panicked in the aisle.”
“You sentenced people to prison.”
“The supermarket was crowded.”
Claire sat at the table with foundation documents spread before her. Priya had helped obtain a temporary order preventing Nathaniel from removing Claire as a trustee until the disputed signatures could be examined.
Julian set an apple beside her papers. “You need to eat.”
“Please don’t say things my phone app says.”
He took off his coat.
Without the tailored charcoal suit from the library, he looked older. He wore a brown sweater with one elbow stretched out of shape. Claire had never seen it.
“Lena asked me to stop discussing the investigation with you unless she approves,” he said.
“Because you keep speaking as though you still have a courtroom.”
“Because I am a potential witness and an independent trustee.”
“Also because you keep speaking as though you still have a courtroom.”
“Yes.”
Mara carried the soup cans into the kitchen.
Julian sat across from Claire. “How are you?”
She pointed to the papers. “North Reach transferred three million dollars to a lender six days before the estate’s loan covenant review. Two weeks later, the lender extended Nathaniel’s deadline.”
“That sounds significant.”
“It sounds significant because it is.”
“I’m trying not to conduct an investigation.”
“You’re doing badly.”
He folded his hands.
Claire studied him. “Why did my grandfather appoint you to the foundation board?”
“Your father asked him to.”
“My father distrusted Nathaniel’s family.”
“Your father distrusted most families with portraits of themselves.”
“He liked you.”
“That was one of his less defensible judgments.”
Claire waited.
Julian looked toward the window. Outside, someone was pushing a stroller through cold rain beneath a clear plastic cover.
“Your father worried that marriage would place you inside a system where affection and money could become difficult to separate,” Julian said. “He did not oppose Nathaniel. He opposed dependence.”
“He never told me.”
“He believed telling you would make you marry faster.”
“He was probably right.”
“Yes.”
May you like
“You knew Nathaniel was borrowing against the estate.”
“I knew there was debt. I did not know foundation money was involved.”
