Chương 12
“A promise with money he did not have.”
From the den, Oliver’s teacher asked everyone to mute their microphones.
Laura lowered her voice. “There is another option. You can propose transferring the proxy to an independent fiduciary now. Voluntarily.”
“Beatrice will never consent.”
“The court may consider it if conflict is clear.”
“It would mean giving up control.”
“Temporarily, perhaps.”
“Graham left it to me.”
“Graham also left you a company crisis, an unsigned amendment, and a family committee chaired by a woman under investigation for drugging your son. His intentions are not the only relevant fact.”
Celeste looked toward the door.
“If I give up the proxy, Beatrice wins.”
Laura shook her head. “That depends on what you think the contest is.”
The sentence irritated Celeste because it sounded like something a person said after charging by the hour to be wise.
“What does Oliver lose?” Celeste asked.
“Immediate family control over his shares.”
“And gains?”
“Distance from the accusation that his medical crisis is being used by either side to control a sale.”
Celeste looked down at the onyx ring in the surveillance still. “He becomes evidence instead.”
“He already is.”
The school session ended. Oliver entered carrying a worksheet about fractions.
“Are you the new lawyer?” he asked Laura.
“I am.”
“Do you know the old lawyer?”
“I know of him.”
“He has eyebrows like angry birds.”
Laura glanced at Celeste. “That may be privileged information.”
Oliver smiled for the first time in two days.
He placed the worksheet on the table. “I need someone to explain why one-third is bigger than one-fourth when four is bigger than three.”
Laura pulled out a chair. “That is a more reasonable dispute than most of mine.”
For twenty minutes, the company, the camera, the drink, and the trust became less important than drawing circles on scrap paper. Celeste made tea. Oliver accused Laura of making uneven slices. Laura admitted the court would likely agree.
When Oliver returned to the den, Laura tapped her pencil against the table.
“You need to decide whether protecting control is the same as protecting him.”
“I heard you the first time.”
“I know. I am saying it again because you changed the subject with tea.”
Celeste looked at the cup in her hands.
“Graham used to do that,” she said. “He would ask me to choose a restaurant when what he meant was he had already made a decision about something else.”
“Did you call him on it?”
“Not enough.”
“Then do not make him the standard for your courage now.”
The criminal investigation shifted two days later.
Laboratory analysis found fibers from the lining of Celeste’s ivory clutch caught beneath the edge of the prescription label. The bottle had been pushed into the bag with enough force to scrape the fabric. A tiny fragment of black cosmetic wax was also present on the cap.
Beatrice used a black wax pencil to shape her eyebrows. So did thousands of other women.
More useful was the camera footage. A technician enhanced several frames without inventing detail. The woman’s face remained blocked by a floral arrangement, but her plum sleeve, onyx ring, elevated left shoulder, and diamond bracelet were visible.
Beatrice claimed the bracelet was common.
Adrian produced photographs from the beginning of the gala. One diamond near the clasp was missing. The same gap appeared in the footage.
Beatrice then admitted she had stood at the north table. She said she had moved the glass away from the edge and placed a compact mirror into Celeste’s clutch because Celeste had left it in the restroom earlier.
Celeste did not own a compact mirror.
Malcolm called the inconsistency “an understandable error during a traumatic evening.”
Detective Price called Celeste after the revised statement became public.
“She is narrowing her options,” Price said.
“Then arrest her.”
“We are not there.”
“You have the ring, sleeve, bracelet, message, glass, bottle, and lie.”
“We have evidence that she handled the area, instructed Reed to deliver the drink, asked about the camera, and gave changing accounts. We still need to prove she introduced the substance.”
“Oliver saw her.”
“His statement is important.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because children’s statements are attacked hardest when adults want them to carry too much.”
Celeste stood at the kitchen counter while Oliver built the ferry nearby.
“What would make it enough?”
“A witness. A record of acquisition. Her admission. Evidence on an object tied directly to administration. Something that closes the gap.”
“Can I speak to her?”
“No.”
“She asked to meet.”
Price became silent.
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Where?”
“Her townhouse.”
“Do not go alone.”
“She will not speak if police are there.”
“Then let her not speak.”
“If I can get an admission—”
“You are not an investigator.”
“I am the person she thinks she can control.”
“That makes you useful to her, not safe.”
Celeste looked at the half-built ferry.
“She wants the proxy before the lender deadline.”
“Then she may say things she otherwise wouldn’t.”
“So you agree.”
“I understand your reasoning. That is not agreement.”
“Can I record her?”
Price exhaled. “Speak to your attorney.”
Laura’s answer was less dramatic.
“You may record a conversation you are part of under New York law,” she said. “That does not make it wise. A private recording can be challenged, leaked, misunderstood, or used to show you were manipulating a family negotiation.”
“She drugged Oliver.”
“We believe she did.”
“I know she did.”
“That certainty is why you are vulnerable.”
Celeste walked to the window.
Laura continued. “You need a plan that protects Oliver even if Beatrice admits nothing.”
“What plan?”
“Propose the independent fiduciary. Agree to sell the Harbor Parcel only if the sale funds the company obligations and creates a restricted endowment for the project at another site. Remove the reason she claims to be acting.”
“And give up my leverage.”
“Yes.”
May you like
“Then she gets what she wanted.”
“She wanted control over you. Giving control to neither of you is not the same result.”
