Part 5
The article quoted an unnamed family representative saying Nolan had attempted to protect his wife during an emotional crisis.
Marcus read it twice, then placed the phone face down.
It rang immediately.
“Don’t respond,” Laurel said.
Her voice sounded exhausted.
“I wasn’t going to.”
“You were going to ask Ben who knows the editor.”
“I was considering whether the editor enjoys being sued.”
“That is responding.”
Marcus sat at the kitchen table. “How do you feel?”
“Like my head belongs to someone who doesn’t take care of it.”
“Any vomiting?”
“No.”
“Vision problems?”
“No.”
“Confusion?”
“I called you, so possibly.”
He let the remark settle without defending himself.
Laurel continued, “Nolan’s attorney sent an email to my old address. He says Nolan is prepared to forgive what happened if I return home and receive treatment.”
“Forgive.”
“That is the word.”
“Send it to the detective.”
“I did.”
“And the lawyer you’re going to choose.”
“I found one. Andrea Kim. The advocate recommended her.”
Marcus recognized the name from employment and family-law cases around the county. Quiet, competent, not impressed by wealth.
“Good,” he said.
“You don’t need to investigate her.”
“I know.”
“You already searched her.”
“I read one article.”
Laurel sighed. “Dad.”
“I won’t contact her unless you ask.”
A pause followed. “Thank you.”
It was the first thing she had thanked him for since the conservatory, and it was for not acting.
Celeste arrived at the apartment that afternoon without warning. Laurel called Marcus from the bathroom while Celeste waited in the small living room.
“She brought my coat,” Laurel whispered.
“Do you want me there?”
“No.”
“Do you want the staff member downstairs?”
“She’s in the hallway.”
Marcus stood in his office with one hand against the window. Crews moved generators across the yard below, unaware that he was measuring the distance between himself and a house he had promised not to visit.
“I can stay on the phone.”
“I don’t know what I want.”
“That’s all right.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“You don’t have to know yet.”
Laurel became quiet.
Marcus added, “You can ask Celeste to leave.”
“I asked her to come in.”
“Then let her say what she came to say. You can end it whenever you choose.”
Laurel took a breath. “I’ll call later.”
Celeste remained for twenty-six minutes. Laurel told Marcus about the visit that evening. They spoke by phone because she did not want company.
Celeste had sat on the edge of the apartment sofa in the same cream blouse and burgundy skirt she had worn the night before. One pearl earring was missing. She carried Laurel’s camel-colored coat and a purse large enough to contain nothing useful.
“She apologized,” Laurel said.
“For what?”
“She wasn’t specific at first. She said she should have understood how frightened I was.”
“Did she see him lock the doors?”
“She heard the security panel. She was in the dining room. She came in after he took my phone.”
“Will she tell Morales?”
“I asked her.”
“What did she say?”
“She said she needed to speak to her attorney.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
Laurel heard his breathing change. “Don’t call her.”
“I won’t.”
“She also said Nolan has had episodes before.”
“What kind of episodes?”
“He shoved a girlfriend at college. There was a settlement. He broke a hotel door during an argument with another woman. Celeste paid for the damage and told herself no one was hurt. She said his father taught him that anger was only dangerous when poor people displayed it.”
“That sounds rehearsed.”
“She has probably been rehearsing it for years.”
“Did she mention your phone?”
“She saw him take it toward the study after I fell. She thinks he put it in the wall safe.”
Marcus walked to the kitchen, opened a drawer, and found nothing he wanted.
“Does she have access to the safe?”
“She says no.”
“Does she own the house?”
“Half, through the family trust.”
“Then she can authorize entry.”
“Maybe. Andrea is checking. We are not breaking in.”
“I didn’t say we were.”
“You opened a drawer.”
He looked at the phone. “How did you know that?”
“You always open things when you’re angry. Cabinets. Toolboxes. Car doors. You need the sound.”
Marcus pushed the drawer closed gently.
Laurel said, “I found the documents because Nolan asked me to get his passport from the study. A folder was open on the desk. My name was on a guarantee for a loan tied to one of the development companies. The signature looked right until I saw the date.”
“What was wrong with the date?”
“I was in Vermont with Celeste that day. Nolan stayed home. There were other papers. Transfers from an account my mother left me into a company I’d never heard of.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know. Enough that he told me I was confused when I asked.”
“Did you contact the bank?”
“I tried. He came in while I was taking pictures.”
Marcus leaned against the counter. His first instinct was to ask why she had not called him. The question would have been about his pain, not hers.
“What did you do then?”
“I told him I was leaving.”
“And Celeste?”
“She walked in during the argument. Nolan told her I’d misunderstood a routine transaction. She told us both to calm down. I packed anyway.”
“What made her send for me?”
“I don’t know.”
Marcus thought of Celeste at the open door, one hand against her blouse, unable to speak. “Maybe she finally believed what she saw.”
“Or she believed you could overpower him.”
May you like
The answer unsettled him because it was probably true.
The estate security footage became available two days later after a judge approved a limited warrant. The conservatory camera had no audio and viewed the room from above the interior doors. One of the olive trees obscured part of the floor. The recording showed Laurel moving toward the exit, Nolan stepping in front of her, and the chair falling out of frame. It showed Celeste entering several seconds later and kneeling. It showed Nolan standing with the tumbler while Laurel remained on the floor.
