Chương 5
“Maybe I am.”
At eight-twelve, the physician returned.
Sophie’s tests were consistent with exposure to a much higher amount of her prescribed sedating medication than the single tablet she reported taking. They were keeping her overnight for observation. She was improving.
Nathan asked whether she could have accidentally taken the wrong pill.
The physician said it was possible in theory, but the physical tablets recovered from the penthouse would matter.
Sophie did not speak until the doctor left.
“You asked again.”
Nathan leaned back.
“I asked a medical question.”
“You asked whether I made a mistake.”
“Yes.”
She looked at him.
He could feel the argument waiting.
Instead of defending himself, he said, “Because part of me is still looking for a version where Vanessa didn’t do this.”
Sophie’s expression softened, but not much.
“I know.”
“That’s not the same as not believing you.”
“It doesn’t feel different from here.”
Nathan looked down at his hands.
Vanessa had been in their life for almost seven years.
She had helped Nathan choose Sophie’s engagement ring because Nathan had somehow reached thirty without understanding that Sophie disliked halos around center stones. She had once spent Christmas morning assembling a ridiculous wooden dollhouse for Nathan’s niece while Nathan and Sophie argued about instructions.
When Nathan’s mother had needed surgery, Vanessa had sent food every night for a week.
People who tampered with medication were not supposed to remember your mother’s dietary restrictions.
That was the childish part of him speaking.
He knew it.
Sophie said, “You’re allowed to hate that this might be true.”
Nathan looked at her.
“But don’t make me prove it to you before you care what happened.”
He reached for her hand.
She let him take it.
The next morning, rain had turned the city gray.
Nathan noticed only because Sophie asked whether he could close the blinds.
Her phone had been brought from the penthouse by one of Nathan’s assistants after police released it. Sophie checked her email.
There were seventy-two messages from the foundation.
Her finance director, Maya Chen, had sent thirteen.
Sophie called her.
Nathan moved toward the door.
“You can stay,” Sophie said.
He stayed.
Maya answered immediately.
“Oh my God. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“You are in the hospital.”
“I am medically inconvenient, not dead.”
Nathan looked at her.
Sophie lifted one shoulder.
Maya exhaled hard.
“I heard there were police at your building.”
“Who told you?”
“Vanessa.”
The room went still.
Sophie sat straighter.
“When?”
“Last night. Around six.”
“What did she say?”
“That you’d had some kind of reaction and Nathan was panicking.”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
Sophie asked, “Did she say why police were there?”
“No. She said it was probably because your building called them.”
“Maya, listen to me. Did Vanessa contact you about the invoices?”
Silence.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Yesterday afternoon.”
“Before or after you talked to me?”
“After.”
“What did she ask?”
“She wanted to know which records I had sent you.”
Nathan stood and walked toward the window.
Sophie said, “And what did you tell her?”
“I told her the Baxter Outreach invoices and the Ravelin consulting payments. Sophie, what is this?”
“What else?”
“Sophie.”
“What else did you tell her?”
Maya’s voice lowered.
“That you asked me to pull the underlying vendor bank information.”
Sophie closed her eyes.
“When?”
“Three-ten, maybe.”
Sophie had arrived home around three-thirty.
Nathan looked at her.
She looked back.
The chain was beginning to form.
Not proof.
A chain.
Maya said, “What happened?”
Sophie told her enough.
Not everything.
When she reached the medication, Maya stopped speaking.
“Sophie.”
“I need you to do something.”
“Anything.”
“Don’t touch the accounting files.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t call Vanessa.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t tell anyone which payments I was reviewing.”
Maya hesitated.
“I already told David.”
Sophie frowned.
“Why?”
“He asked why you canceled today’s grants meeting.”
“Did you tell him about the invoices?”
“I told him we were doing an internal review.”
Sophie pressed two fingers against her forehead.
Nathan watched her annoyance arrive in the middle of fear.
Real life, he thought.
Even catastrophe had coworkers.
After the call, Sophie said, “I need my laptop.”
“No.”
She stared at Nathan.
“That was immediate.”
“You are in a hospital bed.”
“I can use a computer in a hospital bed.”
“You were poisoned yesterday.”
“Allegedly.”
He almost smiled.
“You’re making jokes now?”
“It’s either that or throw something, and this place owns all the cups.”
Nathan pulled the chair closer.
“Police can review the records.”
“I know.”
“Then let them.”
“Do you know how many transactions a foundation makes in a year?”
“No.”
“Exactly.”
“That was rude.”
“It was accurate.”
He leaned back.
She looked toward the rain.
After a moment she said, “I need to know whether I missed it.”
“What?”
“If Vanessa stole from us.”
“That’s not your job today.”
“She was my friend.”
“That isn’t your job either.”
“It feels like one.”
Nathan understood that more than he wanted to.
By noon, Detective Morales had obtained voluntary access from the foundation to preserve relevant records. Maya had contacted the board chair. An outside forensic accountant was being considered.
The machinery of responsible adults had started moving.
Slowly.
With meetings.
Nathan wanted it to move like fear moved.
It did not.
Sophie was discharged shortly after two with instructions not to resume the questioned medication until her prescribing physician had reviewed everything.
They did not go home.
Police had finished their initial work in the penthouse, but Sophie said she did not want to sleep there.
Nathan booked a suite in a hotel ten blocks away.
He could have sent someone to collect clothes.
Sophie insisted on stopping at the apartment herself.
“I need things.”
“I can get them.”
“You’ll bring four black sweaters and no underwear.”
“I know what underwear looks like.”
“That’s not the same skill.”
He let her win.
Two officers were still outside the penthouse when they arrived.
Inside, the room looked almost normal.
May you like
That was the worst part.
The cream rug had been professionally cut around the stained section for evidence. The lounge chair sat slightly crooked. A strip of red evidence tape marked the security panel.
