Chương 5
“Yes,” Julian said.
Richard Voss, who had returned at Evelyn’s request, advised him to reconsider.
Julian signed the consent form.
Voss followed him into the hall. “You are not helping the boy by offering unrestricted access to private family communications.”
“I’m helping myself by hiding them?”
“That is not what I said.”
“It’s what you meant.”
“Your mother retained me to prevent panic from compounding harm. You are a legal guardian who has spent fewer than forty days under the same roof as the child in the past year. There will be scrutiny.”
“There should be.”
Voss looked almost sad. “You think self-punishment is the same as responsibility because it feels immediate.”
Julian had known him since childhood. Voss attended Christmas dinner, sent Theo books on his birthday, and once taught Julian how to tie a fly-fishing knot. He also billed the family nine hundred dollars an hour.
“Who installed the lock?” Julian asked.
“Arthur hired a restoration contractor.”
“Why?”
“Your mother said valuable documents would be stored there.”
“Were they?”
“I have no idea.”
“Who had keys?”
“Arthur and Evelyn, as far as I know.”
“Where is hers?”
“Missing.”
Julian waited.
Voss adjusted his glasses. “That is not evidence she used it.”
“No. It’s evidence you already know it’s missing.”
For the first time, Voss lost control of his expression.
Julian stepped closer. “When did she tell you?”
The attorney looked toward Theo’s room.
“Last night,” he said.
“Before or after she came here?”
“Before.”
“Did she say how long it had been missing?”
“She said she noticed yesterday morning.”
“Did she report it?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“You’ll have to ask her.”
“You have represented me for twelve years. You have represented the foundation for twenty. Are you my attorney now?”
Voss took a long breath. “No.”
The answer hurt more than Julian expected.
“Then stop following me.”
By noon, St. Anne’s discharged Theo with instructions for medication, rest, hydration, and immediate follow-up. Nia Cole informed Julian that child protective services would conduct a safety assessment before deciding where Theo could stay.
“He’s coming with me,” Julian said.
“That is not solely your decision.”
“I’m his guardian.”
“You were his guardian yesterday too.”
Claire stood near the window. She looked away.
Nia’s tone remained level. “The concern is not that you locked him in the room. The concern is whether you provided adequate supervision and whether your proposed residence is safe.”
“I have an apartment in Manhattan.”
“Where you live four nights a month.”
“I can live there every night.”
“Children are not made safe by future tense.”
Julian glanced through the glass at Theo, who was showing Mara the hospital bracelet around the stuffed elephant’s leg.
“What do I need to do?”
“Start by not asking for a checklist that makes this go away.”
He almost answered sharply. He caught himself.
Nia noticed that too.
“Theo can be placed with you provisionally,” she said, “if you do not return to Hawthorn House, if Evelyn Harrow has no contact, if you accept home visits, and if you arrange appropriate daily care without delegating full responsibility to staff.”
“Yes.”
“You should speak with a family attorney independent of the Harrow office.”
“Yes.”
“And Mr. Harrow?”
He waited.
“Do not question Theo about who locked the door. Repeated questioning can damage both him and any investigation.”
“I understand.”
“No. You agree. Understanding may come later.”
Claire drove because Julian’s car remained at the mansion. Theo sat in the rear seat with Mara beside him. They stopped at a pharmacy in Kingston, where the prescription system rejected the insurance information because the plan had Evelyn’s address and an outdated identification number.
Julian called the insurer. He was transferred four times.
At the third transfer, Theo asked whether they could go home.
Julian muted the call. “Not to Hawthorn.”
“Why?”
“We need somewhere quiet for a few days.”
“Is Grandma there?”
“Yes.”
Theo looked down at the elephant.
Mara asked, “Do you want her to be?”
He did not answer.
They spent twenty-seven minutes beneath the pharmacy’s flickering lights while Julian, who had negotiated the purchase of companies in three countries, failed to obtain a child’s inhaler without paying cash. He bought it himself, along with two spacers, a peak-flow meter, children’s pain reliever, saline spray, electrolyte drinks, crackers, socks, a toothbrush, and a package of glow-in-the-dark stars Theo touched but did not request.
At the register, Claire removed the stars from the cart.
Julian stared at her.
“He doesn’t have a ceiling yet,” she said quietly.
The cashier pretended not to listen.
They went to Claire’s townhouse in Rhinebeck. It was closer than Manhattan and had a guest room on the first floor, though the room contained a drafting table, rolled architectural plans, and six boxes of tile samples.
Theo stopped in the doorway.
“Where does it lock?” he asked.
Claire knelt beside the brass handle. “It doesn’t.”
He tested it twice.
While Mara made soup, Claire and Julian moved the boxes into her office. Theo sat on the sofa under a blanket and watched a nature documentary about octopuses. Every few minutes he checked that Julian remained in the room.
Julian canceled the following week’s meetings. His assistant called to explain that the board needed more than a blank calendar and a two-line email. He told her the truth. There was silence on the line, then the sound of a keyboard.
“I’ll handle what I can,” she said.
“You don’t have to protect me.”
“I’m protecting everyone who works here from finding out through a gossip site.”
That was another consequence he had not considered.
The company issued a statement acknowledging a medical emergency involving a family member and requesting privacy. It did not mention the locked room. By evening, a photograph of the concealed library door appeared online anyway.
Someone had taken it after police opened the shelf.
The heavy iron latch was clearly visible.
Julian found Arthur’s number and called.
May you like
The estate manager answered on the first ring.
“Where are you?”
