Chương 4
Her phone was still missing.
“We found blood in the security office,” Alvarez said.
“Mine?”
“Some of it probably is. There was also a partial shoe impression near the console and damage to the recording equipment. The local drive was removed.”
“Grant took it.”
“Maybe.”
“He did.”
Alvarez pulled a chair closer.
“Tell me exactly what you saw, not what you believe happened.”
Mara’s first impulse was anger. Then she saw that Alvarez was not dismissing her. She was separating the pieces.
Mara closed her eyes.
She described Celeste entering the service pantry shortly before the scheduled toast. She described the two glasses, the dark object in Celeste’s palm, the moment Celeste told Mara to leave the tray and return to the ballroom. Mara had obeyed for six steps.
“Why did you turn back?”
“She was nervous.”
“How could you tell?”
“She kept touching her necklace.”
“That’s all?”
“She never touches it.”
“How do you know?”
“I served three Mercer events this month. She wears the same rubies. She checks the clasp before she enters a room, then leaves them alone.”
Alvarez wrote something down.
Mara continued.
She had followed through the side corridor, staying far enough behind that Celeste’s heels covered the sound of her flats. Through the pantry door window, she saw Celeste place the glasses beneath the camera. Mara did not see the vial directly then. Celeste’s back blocked the counter.
After Celeste left with the tray, Mara went to the security office because she knew the camera feed was monitored there. Banquet staff were not allowed inside, but the door had been propped open earlier when a technician carried in replacement cables.
Grant was at the console.
“He was replaying the pantry footage,” Mara said.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you see him speak to Celeste?”
“No.”
“Did you see him touch the glasses?”
“No.”
“Did you see Celeste pour liquid into the glass with your own eyes?”
Mara hesitated.
Alvarez’s pen stopped.
“On the monitor,” Mara said. “I saw it on the replay.”
“Not directly.”
“No.”
“Did you see what was inside the vial?”
“No.”
“Did you see her give the glass to Mr. Mercer?”
“I saw her carry the tray out. Then Grant noticed me.”
She described raising her phone. Grant crossed the room and told her to hand it over. She refused. He grabbed her wrist. She bit him. He struck her with the side of his hand, the heavy ring opening the scrape at her temple. She hit the console, but she did not fall.
“He said I didn’t understand what I’d seen.”
“What did you say?”
“I said that was usually what guilty people said.”
Alvarez looked at her.
“It wasn’t clever.”
“It was a little clever.”
“He didn’t appreciate it.”
Grant twisted her arm until she dropped the phone. Mara kicked his knee, snatched it from the floor, and ran. He followed her into the linen corridor. She pulled a rolling rack of tablecloths across his path, bought herself several seconds, and sent the video to the number printed beside Isaac Ward’s name on the executive event sheet.
“Why not call 911?”
“I tried. The call didn’t connect in the service hallway.”
“Why Isaac?”
“He was ten yards from Daniel.”
“Why didn’t you send it directly to Daniel?”
“His number wasn’t on the sheet.”
Alvarez nodded.
“Then you entered the ballroom.”
“Yes.”
“And broke the glass.”
“Yes.”
“Before confirming which glass he held.”
Mara opened her eyes.
“I knew.”
“How?”
“Celeste switched them in the video. The glass she poisoned was placed on the left side of the tray. When she came out, she approached Daniel from his right and rotated the tray toward him. He took the glass that had been on the left.”
“That happened quickly.”
“I carry trays for a living.”
Alvarez studied her for several seconds.
“Would you testify to that?”
“Yes.”
“Even if a defense attorney asks whether you could have been mistaken?”
“Yes.”
“Were you?”
“No.”
The detective closed her notebook.
“There’s something else. One of the servers reported seeing a small object fall near the side tables after you played the video.”
Mara remembered Celeste stepping backward.
“Dark?”
“She wasn’t sure.”
“Where is it?”
“Not there.”
“Who cleaned the area?”
“Hotel staff say nobody did.”
“They’re lying.”
“Maybe. Or a guest kicked it. Or it rolled. Or the server was mistaken.”
Mara looked toward the curtain.
“Tasha doesn’t usually imagine things.”
“You know who reported it?”
“There aren’t many servers who watch everything while pretending not to.”
Alvarez almost smiled.
“Get some sleep.”
“Is Celeste under arrest?”
“No.”
Mara sat up.
“She tried to kill him.”
“We do not yet have a laboratory result, an original recording, the vial, or the man who removed the server.”
“You have the video.”
“We have a compressed copy sent through two devices and played on a third.”
“It’s real.”
“I believe you believe that.”
Mara’s throat tightened.
Alvarez saw it and leaned forward.
“Listen to me. Believing you is not the same as proving a charge. The distinction is frustrating. It is also the distinction that keeps frightened people, liars, witnesses, rich people, poor people, and police officers from deciding guilt in a ballroom.”
“Will she go home?”
“She will leave with her attorney unless something changes.”
Mara turned her face toward the wall.
Alvarez stood.
“Ms. Rowan also says she used the vial to add prescribed anti-nausea medication to Mr. Mercer’s alcohol-free champagne.”
Mara looked back.
“That is a lie.”
“Probably.”
“Daniel’s champagne wasn’t alcohol-free.”
“How do you know?”
“I poured both glasses from the same bottle.”
Alvarez stopped.
“Both?”
“Yes.”
“You did not mention that before.”
“You asked what happened after she took the tray.”
May you like
The detective sat down again.
For the next twenty minutes, Mara explained the champagne service in detail. The bottle had been opened at her station. She had poured two flutes from it while Celeste watched. Celeste had then requested a third glass, saying one of the first two had a lipstick mark. There had been no mark. Mara replaced it anyway.
