Chương 5
7:42 P.M.
Margaret frowned.
“So?”
Claire pointed lower.
“Card present.”
Margaret looked at her.
Claire said, “Richard didn’t use this card online. Someone physically tapped or inserted it.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did the waiter bring it back to Richard?”
Margaret thought.
Claire’s face was pale.
“I asked the server,” she said. “Richard didn’t hand her the card.”
Margaret felt something cold move through her.
“Who did?”
“A woman.”
The lobby seemed to recede.
“What woman?”
“She came to the table before you arrived. I was in the restroom.”
Margaret stared.
“Hannah said she looked about sixty. Maybe younger. Gray coat. Dark hair.”
Margaret’s mouth went dry.
“Where is Hannah?”
“In the staff corridor.”
They found her near the service elevator.
Hannah looked terrified to be involved.
Margaret softened her voice.
“Tell me exactly what happened.”
Hannah nodded.
“Mr. Mercer asked for the check around seven thirty-five. I brought it. Then another guest walked up.”
“Did you know her?”
“No.”
“What did she say?”
“She said she was paying.”
“To Richard?”
“Yes.”
“What did he do?”
“He looked shocked.”
Claire glanced at Margaret.
Hannah continued.
“They argued quietly. I couldn’t hear everything.”
“Did she sit?”
“No.”
“What did she look like?”
“Maybe early sixties? Dark brown hair with gray in it. Shoulder length. Thin. She had a gray raincoat.”
Margaret’s chest tightened.
Evelyn had been fifty-three when she died.
She would be sixty-five now.
“What else?”
Hannah thought.
“She had a scar.”
Margaret stopped breathing.
“Where?”
“Right arm. I saw it when she took the card out.”
Richard had said burns.
Margaret leaned against the wall.
Claire touched her elbow.
This time Margaret did not pull away.
“What did she say to him?” Claire asked.
Hannah swallowed.
“I heard one thing.”
“What?”
“She said, ‘You’ve had twelve years, Richie.’”
Margaret closed her eyes.
Only one person had ever called Richard Richie in Margaret’s presence.
Evelyn.
She opened her eyes.
“Where did she go?”
“Elevator.”
“When?”
“Maybe seven forty-five.”
Margaret looked at Claire.
Claire already had her phone out.
“We can ask security for footage.”
Richard appeared at the end of the corridor.
Margaret straightened.
“You told me she called you this afternoon.”
Richard slowed.
Claire turned.
Richard looked at Hannah.
Then at Margaret.
“What did she tell you?”
“That Evelyn was here.”
Richard’s face lost color.
Margaret walked toward him.
“She paid for your dinner herself.”
He said nothing.
“You saw her.”
“Yes.”
“Tonight.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you lie?”
“Because she asked me not to tell you.”
Margaret stopped inches from him.
“She came into my hotel.”
“I didn’t know she was coming.”
“She used her own name.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Margaret stared at him.
Richard looked genuinely frightened now.
Not of exposure.
Of Evelyn.
“What happened this afternoon?”
He glanced at Claire.
Claire folded her arms.
“She knows enough,” Margaret said.
Richard rubbed his mouth.
“Evelyn called me at my office around two.”
“From what number?”
“Blocked.”
“What did she say?”
“She wanted to meet.”
“Why?”
“She said she was done.”
“Done with what?”
“Hiding.”
Margaret stood very still.
Richard continued.
“I told her she was insane.”
Claire laughed softly.
“That’s rich.”
Richard ignored her.
“She said she wanted to tell the truth.”
“To police?”
“To everyone.”
Margaret felt her pulse in her neck.
“Why now?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s a lie.”
“I don’t.”
“She said something.”
Richard looked away.
“Richard.”
His voice lowered.
“She’s sick.”
Margaret’s first response was anger.
“Don’t.”
“I’m not manipulating you.”
“What kind of sick?”
“Cancer.”
The word entered without meaning.
Claire looked at Margaret.
Margaret looked at Richard.
“What kind?”
“Pancreatic.”
“How long?”
“I don’t know.”
“Treatment?”
“I don’t know.”
“You spoke to her this afternoon.”
“She wouldn’t tell me.”
Margaret’s hands had gone numb.
Richard said, “She told me she might have months.”
Margaret walked away.
Not far.
Three steps.
She faced the gray service corridor wall.
Someone had taped a printed reminder beside the freight elevator about employee meals.
NO FOOD BEYOND THIS POINT.
She read it twice.
Her sister was alive.
Her sister was dying.
Both facts were impossible.
Together they felt almost insulting.
Behind her, Claire said quietly, “Margaret.”
Margaret turned.
“Security footage.”
They found the security director in a small office behind the lobby.
Margaret knew him.
Daniel Cho had worked at the hotel for nine years and disliked dramatic requests because dramatic requests usually became legal requests.
He looked at Margaret, then Claire, then Richard.
“What am I looking for?”
“A woman who entered the rooftop restaurant around seven thirty,” Margaret said.
“Guest issue?”
“Personal.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“Margaret.”
“I need the footage.”
“Personal is exactly why I can’t just hand you footage.”
“I’m not asking you to hand it to me.”
“What are you asking?”
“Confirm whether she came through the lobby.”
Daniel leaned back.
Richard said, “This could become a police matter.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Then police can request it.”
Margaret closed her eyes briefly.
Of course.
Procedure.
The maddening dignity of ordinary rules.
“Daniel,” she said, “my sister has been legally dead for twelve years. She was upstairs an hour ago.”
Daniel stared at her.
“That is not a sentence I expected tonight.”
“Me neither.”
He looked toward the monitors.
Then back at Margaret.
“I can review it.”
“Thank you.”
“You don’t record my screen. You don’t photograph anything.”
“Fine.”
“And if I see something criminal, we stop.”
“Fine.”
Daniel searched the lobby cameras.
At 7:19 P.M., a woman entered through the revolving doors.
Margaret stopped breathing.
The image was imperfect.
Gray coat.
Dark hair streaked heavily with silver.
Thin face.
Older.
But she walked like Evelyn.
That was what broke Margaret.
Not the face.
The walk.
A slight outward turn of the left foot from a childhood ankle fracture.
Margaret gripped the back of Daniel’s chair.
Claire whispered, “Is that her?”
Margaret could not speak.
Richard did.
“Yes.”
The woman paused near the flower arrangement.
Looked around.
May you like
Then lifted one hand to smooth her hair behind her ear.
Evelyn had done that whenever she was nervous.
