Chương 9
“Thank him,” she said.
“He’s afraid he’ll lose his job.”
“Tell him I’ll help.”
“With what money?”
The question carried no cruelty. It was practical.
Claire worked as a physical therapist in a rehabilitation clinic. She made a good living, but Richard’s wealth had distorted every family conversation about money. Helping someone meant severance packages, legal retainers, mortgage payments. Claire could cover groceries for a few months. She could not replace an estate manager’s salary.
“I don’t know,” she admitted.
Natalie exhaled. “The foundation board is meeting tomorrow.”
“Why?”
“Uncle Peter called an emergency session. They want Dad to take a temporary leave.”
“Temporary.”
“It’s the fastest thing they can do.”
“It’s the safest thing they can do.”
“Maybe both.”
Oliver appeared in the kitchen doorway wearing yesterday’s pale-yellow shirt and one navy sock. “Is there cereal?”
Claire lowered the phone. “Yes.”
“The round kind?”
“Yes.”
“Not the healthy round kind.”
“The unhealthy round kind.”
He nodded and returned to the living room.
Natalie gave a faint laugh through the phone, then began crying so quietly Claire might not have noticed if she had not known the sound of her sister trying to hide it.
“I ruined my own wedding,” Natalie said.
“No.”
“I knew he was drinking.”
“You didn’t put Oliver in the cellar.”
“I protected the conditions that let Dad think he could.”
Claire opened a cabinet and took down a bowl.
“We both did,” she said.
On Tuesday, Claire and Ben took Oliver to the child advocacy center.
The building did not resemble a police station. There were painted trees on the walls, bins of toys, and a small aquarium containing fish that Oliver judged to be “not very interesting.” The forensic interviewer introduced herself as Ms. Lawson and explained that she spoke with children about things that had happened to them.
Oliver asked whether she knew about octopuses.
“A little,” she said.
“They have three hearts.”
“I did know that.”
“And blue blood.”
“I did not know that.”
This seemed to establish enough credibility.
Claire and Ben waited in another room while Oliver spoke with Lawson. Detective Price watched the interview through secure video with a child-protection worker. Claire was not allowed to watch.
She sat beside Ben on a sofa designed for people shorter than either of them. A box of tissues remained untouched on the table.
“What if he gets something wrong?” she asked.
“He’s seven,” Ben said. “He’ll get something wrong.”
“What if they think that means all of it is wrong?”
“They know he’s seven.”
“My father’s lawyer will know too.”
Ben rubbed his palms together. “Stop arguing with people who aren’t in the room.”
“I’m preparing.”
“You’re torturing yourself early.”
“It saves time.”
He looked at her. “That’s definitely from Richard.”
She almost snapped at him, then stopped.
“Yes,” she said.
They sat in silence.
A child laughed somewhere down the hall. A receptionist ate yogurt at her desk. Ben picked up a wooden puzzle piece shaped like a cow and turned it over in his hand.
“I’m going to ask my company to move me back to New York full-time,” he said.
Claire looked at him.
“Not because of custody,” he added. “Because he needs both of us nearby for a while.”
“What about the promotion?”
“I’ll probably lose it.”
“Ben.”
“It’s a job.”
“You worked six years for it.”
“I know how long six years is.”
She watched him place the cow back into the puzzle.
“I don’t want you to resent me,” she said.
“I already resent you for plenty of things.”
“That’s reassuring.”
“I mean this won’t be special.”
She smiled despite herself.
He leaned back. “I won’t pretend I’m happy about it. That doesn’t mean it’s the wrong decision.”
The interviewer returned Oliver after a little more than an hour. He seemed tired but calm. He had drawn a red octopus with nine arms.
“It grew one,” he explained.
Detective Price asked Claire and Ben to remain while another staff member took Oliver to choose a snack.
“The account was consistent with what he said at the hospital,” Price told them. “He described seeing Richard Morgan consume alcohol, an argument, force to the wrist, impact with a shelf, confinement, and a threat intended to prevent disclosure.”
Claire held herself still.
“Is that enough to arrest him?”
Price’s expression remained neutral. “We have additional evidence. Mr. Hanley’s statement places Richard entering the cellar with a bottle shortly before Oliver disappeared. A server saw Richard return to the terrace without the bottle. Security video shows him entering the west service corridor at 11:18 and Natalie entering at 11:31. Richard initially told officers he arrived only moments before Natalie.”
“So he lied.”
“His timeline is inconsistent with the recording.”
“Does the camera show Oliver?”
“The corridor camera shows Oliver entering at 11:20. It does not record inside the cellar or the door itself.”
“What about the wristband?”
“A small piece of leather was recovered from a rough edge on the shelving. The laboratory will compare it.”
Ben leaned forward. “What happens now?”
Price glanced at the child-protection worker. “We are submitting the case to the prosecutor today. I expect a decision soon. In the meantime, Richard has agreed through counsel to no contact with Oliver.”
“Agreed?” Claire asked. “He gets credit for agreeing?”
“It means we have a written condition we can act on if he violates it.”
“I want a protective order.”
“We can help you apply.”
Claire looked through the window in the door. Oliver sat at a small table trying to open a package of crackers with his teeth.
Ben rose to help him.
Price remained with Claire. “Your mother gave a statement.”
“What did she say?”
“She described Richard admitting that he grabbed Oliver and closed the cellar door. She also said he asked her to persuade Natalie that the exact timing was unclear.”
Claire felt a pressure behind her eyes.
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“Did she say why?”
“He told her an arrest would destroy the foundation, the wedding, and the family.”
