Chương 4
Mara deleted that message and then recovered it from the trash because Adrian had told her not to delete anything.
She disliked how quickly his voice had moved into her head.
Tessa stood at the kitchen counter spreading cream cheese on a bagel.
“You’re not reading comments anymore.”
“I’m saving them.”
“Why?”
“Evidence.”
“Of what? The internet being diseased?”
Mara set the phone facedown.
Tessa brought her the bagel, then returned to the kitchen and made another because she had forgotten she was hungry too.
“Mom called,” Tessa said.
“What did you tell her?”
“That you fell.”
Mara looked up.
“I know,” Tessa said. “It was stupid. I panicked.”
“She’s going to see the news.”
“She watches a channel that thinks weather is a national emergency. We have time.”
Their mother lived in assisted housing forty minutes away and had early-stage Parkinson’s. Stress worsened her tremors. Mara and Tessa had become skilled at giving her the truth in measured portions.
Mara picked at the edge of the bagel.
“The Avery Foundation pays for half the music program at Lake Street.”
Tessa leaned against the counter. “And?”
“I teach there Wednesdays.”
“And?”
“If they pull funding—”
“Don’t.”
“There are eighteen kids.”
“Don’t make his decision your bill.”
“It will still be a bill.”
Tessa took a bite, chewed, and looked toward the window. Delivery trucks backed into the alley below. Their warning beeps repeated with maddening patience.
“I hate when you do that,” she said.
“Do what?”
“Turn being hurt into a scheduling problem.”
Mara rested the bagel on the plate.
She counted four beeps from the alley, then four more.
It was an old habit. Measures instead of seconds. Four-four time made panic feel like something with edges.
Her phone rang.
Adrian.
Tessa looked at the screen and said, “Alphabet socks.”
Mara answered.
“The district attorney’s office has the first evidence intake report,” Adrian said. “A detective will contact you today for a longer interview.”
“Did they verify the original?”
“The digital forensics unit has both recorders. They’ll calculate hashes, examine metadata, compare time stamps, and review the chain of custody.”
“You sound like a brochure.”
“I’m trying not to say anything inaccurate.”
“What about the main ballroom system?”
“The local archive was deleted at 9:16 p.m., approximately forty seconds after Avery shoved you.”
“Who deleted it?”
“Credentials belonged to a temporary audiovisual technician hired by the family.”
“Did he admit it?”
“No. He says Nolan told him the livestream had malfunctioned and instructed him to clear a corrupted file.”
“Was it corrupted?”
“No.”
Mara stared at the crocheted blanket.
“Will he testify?”
“I don’t know.”
“You mean no.”
“I mean I don’t know.”
She heard an elevator bell through his end of the call.
“Where are you?”
“The Beaumont.”
“You went back?”
“I work here.”
“You still have a job?”
A pause.
“For the moment.”
That answer bothered her more than she expected.
“What happened after I left?”
“The police interviewed forty-seven people. Most statements are incomplete or contradictory. Nine guests claim they did not see physical contact. Eleven saw contact but disagree about how forceful it was. Six left before officers finished taking names.”
“And the others?”
“Some were staff. Some were too intoxicated to provide useful statements.”
“Nolan?”
“He left through the east service entrance at one thirty with counsel after police told him charges would be reviewed.”
“They let him leave.”
“There was no immediate arrest.”
Mara pressed her fingers against her ribs.
“It’s on video.”
“They still review context, intent, injuries, witness statements, and authentication.”
“So he gets to go home.”
“Yes.”
Adrian did not soften the word.
Mara appreciated that and resented him for it.
“Claire?” she asked.
“She left separately.”
“With him?”
“No.”
Tessa stopped wiping the counter.
Mara turned away from her sister.
“Where did she go?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re the security director.”
“I do not track brides after they leave the property.”
“You track everything else.”
Another pause.
“I tracked the things I should have acted on sooner.”
There it was again: regret offered without asking to be forgiven.
Mara shut her eyes.
“I have to go.”
“A detective named Priya Nand may call. She’s careful. Tell her everything, including the rehearsal.”
“I already did.”
“Tell it again.”
“I’m tired of telling it.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
“You’re right.”
The lack of argument left Mara with nowhere to put her anger.
She ended the call.
At two that afternoon, Detective Nand arrived carrying a paper cup and a canvas folder. She was in her forties, with short gray-streaked hair and a wedding ring she twisted when listening.
She asked Mara to describe the reception from the beginning.
Mara started with the music.
She had been hired to play from six until ten, with Mr. Levin covering breaks and joining her for two duet arrangements requested by Claire’s mother. The ballroom was already crowded when Mara arrived. White roses covered the tables. Dark velvet curtains had been drawn across the windows. Warm light from the chandeliers mixed with cool blue illumination hidden behind the columns, giving the room the artificial twilight favored by luxury wedding photographers.
Nolan had been drinking before the ceremony ended.
At seven fifteen, he asked Mara to change the processional music because he disliked the piece Claire had chosen. Mara told him the processional was over.
He laughed as though she had made a joke.
At eight ten, Denise brought Mara water and whispered that Nolan had followed her into a service hallway during the rehearsal dinner two nights earlier. He had blocked the door and asked whether she “liked making powerful men wait.”
Mara had already told Adrian about Denise’s earlier discomfort, but Denise had denied it when questioned.
“She was afraid of losing her job,” Mara told Detective Nand.
“Did she say that?”
“She said the hotel cuts people who create problems.”
“Does it?”
Mara looked at Adrian’s empty place in the room.
May you like
“I don’t know.”
At eight forty-five, Nolan came to the piano and asked Mara why hotel security had questioned his vendors about camera access. She said she did not know.
