Chương 4
Sarah stared at him.
“That’s what you’re worried about?”
“No. I’m asking.”
“Come outside.”
They walked to the driveway.
A neighbor was dragging recycling bins to the curb.
A dog barked somewhere down the block.
The normal world continued with insulting consistency.
Sarah folded her arms.
“The electrician told the police you asked whether an old ceiling mount could fail without warning.”
Daniel said nothing.
Her heart began pounding.
“Why?”
“I don’t remember that.”
“He remembers.”
“I probably made conversation.”
“About ceiling fixtures falling?”
“I don’t know.”
“You asked whether one could come down suddenly.”
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
“Sarah, I had a five-hour flight delay and—”
“No. Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Make me sound unreasonable because you’re tired.”
“I didn’t say unreasonable.”
“You don’t have to.”
Daniel looked toward the house.
“Can we talk somewhere private?”
“We are private.”
“Your sister is probably behind the curtains.”
Sarah looked.
Kate stepped away from the curtains.
Despite everything, Sarah almost laughed.
Daniel did not.
He said, “I noticed the fixture was loose a while ago.”
Sarah’s skin went cold.
“When?”
“I don’t know. June.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I thought it was the cover.”
“You asked an electrician if it could fall.”
“I asked generally.”
“Why didn’t you have him look at it?”
“Because he was already charging us two hundred dollars to replace a garage outlet.”
Sarah stared at him.
The answer was so ordinary it almost convinced her.
Almost.
“You thought something over our daughter’s chair might fall and didn’t want to pay?”
“I didn’t think it might fall.”
“You literally asked whether it could.”
“I asked if fixtures fail. That doesn’t mean I thought ours would.”
“Then why ask?”
He opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Sarah waited.
Daniel looked away.
That was when she knew there was more.
Not what.
But more.
“What are you not telling me?”
“Nothing.”
“Look at me.”
He did.
And lied.
“Nothing.”
Sarah went inside.
She slept with the girls in Kate’s guest room.
Daniel slept on the couch.
At 2:14 in the morning, Sarah woke to the sound of a cabinet closing.
She got up.
Robert was in the kitchen drinking water.
“You okay?” he asked.
“No.”
“Me neither.”
She sat.
He sat across from her.
For a while neither spoke.
Then Robert said, “Daniel lied to you.”
Sarah looked at him.
“You heard?”
“Enough.”
“He says he noticed the fixture was loose.”
Robert rubbed the condensation from his water glass.
“If he noticed it was loose, he would’ve touched it.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I raised him.”
“That doesn’t mean you know everything he does.”
“No.”
His voice was quiet.
“It means I know what he does when he’s worried. He messes with things.”
Sarah pictured Daniel tightening cabinet handles, resetting the router, adjusting crooked frames in hotel rooms.
Robert continued.
“When he was twelve, our furnace made a noise. He took the thermostat apart before telling us.”
“That’s not evidence.”
“I know.”
She looked at him.
“Then why tell me?”
“Because I’m scared.”
It was the first time Robert had said the word.
Sarah had always thought of him as calm.
Calm, she realized, was sometimes just fear with good manners.
“What do you think he did?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you think he loosened it?”
Robert’s fingers tightened around the glass.
“I don’t know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because I don’t.”
Sarah stood.
“I can’t live inside everyone’s maybe.”
Robert looked up.
“You may have to for a while.”
The police interviewed Daniel the next morning.
He went voluntarily.
Sarah did not go with him.
At 11:30, Officer Alvarez called.
“Your husband confirmed he touched the fixture.”
Sarah sat down on Kate’s stairs.
“What?”
“He says he attempted to tighten it approximately six weeks ago.”
“He told me he only noticed it was loose.”
“He says he removed the decorative cover and tightened two screws.”
Sarah closed her eyes.
“Why didn’t he tell me that?”
“That’s something you’ll need to ask him.”
“Do you believe him?”
“We’re still investigating.”
“Did he loosen it?”
“We don’t have evidence establishing that.”
Sarah heard children laughing outside.
Kate’s neighbors had a trampoline.
Someone shouted, “My turn!”
“What evidence do you have?”
“The fasteners show recent tool contact, but that doesn’t tell us who touched them last.”
“His fingerprints?”
“The pieces were handled after the fall.”
Margaret cleaning.
Robert inspecting.
Sarah dropping the pan.
Everything contaminated by people trying to understand.
“What about the fixture?”
“We’re arranging for an inspection.”
Sarah pressed her thumb into her palm.
“Did Daniel explain why he lied?”
“He said he was afraid you would blame him for not repairing it properly.”
That sounded like Daniel.
Which made it worse.
When he returned, Sarah was waiting in Kate’s backyard.
He sat across from her at the patio table.
“I screwed up.”
She looked at him.
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
“Twice.”
“Yes.”
“Maybe three times. I’m losing count.”
He rubbed both hands over his face.
“I saw it wobbling when I changed the bulb. I took the cover off. One screw looked loose, so I tightened it.”
“With what?”
“A screwdriver.”
“Which screwdriver?”
“The small Phillips.”
“Where is it?”
“In the garage.”
Sarah nodded slowly.
“You asked the electrician about fixtures failing after that.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I wasn’t sure I’d fixed it.”
Her breath caught.
“You weren’t sure.”
“No.”
“And you left it above Emily’s chair.”
Daniel’s face tightened.
“I didn’t think it was dangerous.”
“You were unsure enough to ask an electrician.”
“He said old mounts can loosen.”
“Did you tell him you had one loose over your child?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Daniel had no answer.
Sarah stood.
He reached for her wrist.
She pulled away.
“Don’t.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t get to make that word useful yet.”
He dropped his hand.
“I would never hurt the girls.”
“I know.”
The answer came automatically.
Then Sarah stopped.
Daniel heard it too.
She had said it like a habit.
Not a conclusion.
May you like
His face changed.
“You know that.”
