Chương 5
The account belonged to Eleanor.
She looked genuinely surprised.
“I have never logged into this machine.”
“Did Mercer know your password?” Grant asked.
“I did not know I had one.”
Nora touched the back of her neck. “The password might be in the household operations binder.”
“Where is that?” Mara asked.
“In my office.”
They found the binder in an unlocked cabinet.
Inside, beneath emergency contacts and vendor codes, was a typed page containing security credentials. Eleanor’s administrator password had been highlighted in yellow. Nora’s initials appeared at the bottom.
Mara looked at her.
“I didn’t highlight it,” Nora said.
“Those are your initials.”
“I initial every page when the binder is updated. Mr. Mercer’s office emailed the revisions.”
“When?”
“I don’t know. Months ago.”
Grant photographed the page.
Nora’s face had gone pale.
“I didn’t give him the password.”
“No one said you did,” Grant replied.
Mara said nothing.
Nora noticed.
“You think I helped him.”
“I think he knew where the password was.”
“So did everyone who used the binder. The cook, the driver, the maintenance staff.”
“And you.”
Nora took a step back.
Eleanor’s cane struck the floor once.
“That is enough.”
“I’m asking a question.”
“No. You are searching for a subordinate because you cannot reach the man responsible.”
Mara’s jaw tightened.
Nora left the utility room.
Grant watched her go. “Colonel, I recommend you let us conduct the interviews.”
“I wasn’t interviewing her.”
“No. Interviews are usually less hostile.”
Mara almost answered. Instead she looked at the monitor, where the frozen footage showed Adrian’s shoulder and the cream envelope in his hand.
The study camera had not been disabled because it was newer than the rest of the system and connected through a separate circuit. Adrian had apparently not known.
That mistake was the first thing about him that gave Mara hope.
It also troubled Grant.
“People who plan this carefully don’t usually miss the camera over the desk,” he said.
“Maybe he didn’t install it,” Mara replied.
“Nora did,” Eleanor said.
The camera had been a gift from the insurance company after a water leak damaged several rare books. Nora had arranged the installation six months earlier. Adrian’s office had never received the updated diagram.
Grant glanced toward the hall where Nora had disappeared.
“Then she may have saved the house.”
Mara found Nora in the greenhouse, sitting on an overturned clay pot.
The glass walls held a weak imitation of warmth. Bare vines climbed trellises above empty planting beds. Nora wiped her face quickly when Mara entered, though she had not been crying hard enough to hide.
“I was wrong,” Mara said.
Nora looked at her shoes.
“That isn’t an apology.”
“No.”
“What is it?”
“The beginning of one.”
Nora gave a short, humorless laugh.
Mara leaned against the worktable. “I’m used to looking for the person who made the preventable mistake.”
“Does that make people stop making them?”
“Occasionally.”
“Does it make them tell you the truth?”
Mara considered the question.
“Less often.”
Nora folded her hands between her knees.
“Mr. Mercer asked about the security system last week,” she said.
“What did he ask?”
“Whether the study camera still had sound.”
“Does it?”
“No. Connecticut consent laws made Mrs. Vale uncomfortable, so we disabled audio.”
“Did you tell him?”
“I said I didn’t know.”
“Why?”
“Because he had started asking about things that weren’t his responsibility. Which staff were here overnight. Whether Mrs. Vale opened her own mail. Whether the town clerk sent documents by regular mail.”
Mara straightened.
“Did you tell Detective Grant?”
“Not yet.”
“Why not?”
Nora looked through the greenhouse glass toward the house.
“Because I opened the envelope.”
Mara remained still.
“When?”
“Yesterday morning. It came with certified mail, and Mrs. Vale was at an appointment. I thought it was one of the trust documents she was waiting for. I slit the outer mailing envelope before I saw the inner one with the crest.”
“The cream envelope?”
“Yes. I did not break that seal. I put it on her desk.”
“Who knew it arrived?”
“I texted Mr. Mercer’s assistant. She had asked me to watch for county correspondence.”
“What did you write?”
Nora took out her phone.
The message remained in the thread: County deed copy arrived. Sealed inner packet on Mrs. Vale’s study desk.
Mara exhaled.
“You gave him the location.”
“I know.”
“You didn’t know what he planned.”
“I should have known something was wrong.”
“No. You should have followed the mail procedure. That is not the same as causing what he did.”
Nora looked up. “That sounds almost kind.”
“Don’t become dependent on it.”
This time the laugh was real, though brief.
They brought the message to Grant.
By midafternoon, Adrian’s attorney had delivered a prepared statement. Adrian claimed the deed transfer had been conducted under Eleanor’s direct instructions to protect the estate from potential liability associated with the proposed charitable project. Harrowmere, he said, was a temporary holding entity. He had taken the certified copy from the study because it contained confidential financial information and because Eleanor had become agitated and accused him of theft.
He expressed concern for her health.
Mara read that sentence three times.
Eleanor read it once and handed the statement back.
“He has always been most dangerous when expressing concern.”
The civil court granted a temporary restriction preventing Harrowmere from selling or further encumbering the property until a hearing could be held the following week. The order came too late to prevent the discovery of a loan application already in progress.
Harrowmere had sought eight million dollars from a private lender.
The application included an appraisal of the estate, photographs of the grounds, insurance records, and a renovation budget for converting the house into a luxury residential club.
Not a veterans’ center.
Not a temporary holding arrangement.
May you like
A private club with annual memberships priced higher than Nora earned in five years.
The lender suspended the application after receiving notice of the dispute. Its attorney refused to provide underlying communications without legal process.
