Chương 5
“Unless he knew they weren’t armed.”
Mara sat across from them.
“That is one possibility. Another is that he acted recklessly. We don’t decide before the evidence.”
Margaret studied her.
“You have spoken with him.”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“I can’t discuss the substance of an active interview.”
“You can tell me whether I remain in danger.”
Mara paused.
“We believe the break-in and the dispatch call were coordinated.”
Claire put down the coffee.
“By my father?”
“We have not established that.”
“Wade said Thomas gave him the order.”
“The order is real.”
Margaret’s eyes narrowed.
“Real in what sense?”
“It was issued by Judge Harland’s office yesterday afternoon. Temporary control of the property was granted to Thomas pending the competency hearing. The language about removing unauthorized occupants appears to have been added after issuance.”
“Handwritten,” Margaret said.
“Yes.”
“By whom?”
“We’re checking.”
The room’s heater clicked off. For a moment, the only sound was a cart squeaking past in the corridor.
Mara continued.
“Your nephew filed affidavits from two physicians stating you showed cognitive decline.”
“I have met neither physician.”
“One says he evaluated you by secure video.”
“I have not undergone such an evaluation.”
Claire whispered, “He showed me a screenshot.”
Margaret turned.
“What screenshot?”
“You on a video call. He said it was a medical appointment.”
“When?”
“October. You were in Paris.”
Margaret’s mouth tightened around the bandage.
“In October I spoke by video with Thomas for fourteen minutes. He said it concerned insurance for the estate.”
“Was anyone else on the call?”
“There was a man whose camera was disabled. Thomas introduced him as an insurance consultant.”
Mara wrote something down.
Claire stared at the floor.
“I helped schedule that.”
Margaret looked at her.
“You had no reason to suspect anything.”
“I’m the one who sent him your time zones.”
“You are not responsible for what another person concealed.”
“That sounds nice.”
“It is also true.”
“You didn’t believe Wade was responsible for Dad’s lies.”
“I said we did not yet know exactly what your father did.”
“That’s not the same standard.”
Margaret took a breath and let it out slowly.
“No,” she said. “It is not.”
Mara watched the exchange without intervening.
An hour later, Leonard Pike called to say the county judge had suspended the property order pending review. He used phrases like procedural irregularity and extraordinary circumstances. He did not say forgery.
Margaret listened on speakerphone.
“Will Thomas retain access to the estate?” she asked.
“Not without agreement from the court.”
“Has his electronic access been disabled?”
“I would need to check.”
“Please do.”
“This is moving very quickly, Ambassador.”
“A man entered my home with a gun.”
“The marshal entered pursuant to an order.”
“The other men came first.”
Leonard was silent.
Margaret continued.
“The maintenance gate records every access code. The service corridor has a motion alarm. The estate office cabinet was locked. Someone knew where the file boxes were kept.”
“We will coordinate with investigators.”
“Coordinate is not a verb that opens doors.”
“Margaret,” Leonard said, abandoning her title, “the county is trying not to make this worse.”
“You should decide whether your priority is the county or the truth. They may separate before lunch.”
After the call ended, Claire looked at her.
“That was cruel.”
“It was direct.”
“He’s scared.”
“So was I.”
The words came out harder than Margaret intended. Her fingers tightened around the paper cup of tea. A crease formed in its side.
Claire looked away.
Margaret set the cup down.
“I am sorry.”
“You don’t apologize often.”
“I dislike wasting them.”
“That’s not how apologies work.”
“No. I suppose it isn’t.”
Claire’s shoulders lowered slightly.
Margaret was discharged just before nine. Reporters had gathered near the emergency entrance after someone at the county courthouse leaked Wade’s detention. Mara arranged for them to leave through a service corridor.
Margaret stopped before the exit.
“No.”
Mara looked back.
“No to what?”
“I will use the main door.”
“Your face is injured. Your uniform is damaged. There are cameras.”
“Those are observations, not arguments.”
“The investigation is active.”
“I won’t discuss evidence.”
“Your office has not prepared a statement.”
“My office is not here.”
Claire said, “Maybe that’s the point.”
Margaret looked at her.
Claire continued, more carefully.
“You always have people prepare the room before you enter it. Dad prepared this one first.”
Margaret glanced toward the service exit, then toward the hall leading to the lobby.
“What would you have me say?”
“The truth.”
“That is not a statement. It is an obligation.”
“Fine. Then do the obligation.”
Mara crossed her arms.
“I can keep the press at a safe distance.”
Margaret straightened her wrinkled jacket with her uninjured hand. The motion pulled at her shoulder. She waited until the pain passed from her face.
“Let us use the main door.”
Outside, microphones rose above the crowd. Television lights flattened the morning. The questions came at once.
“Ambassador Vale, did the marshal assault you?”
“Was this politically motivated?”
“Is the county covering up an attack?”
“Has Thomas Vale been arrested?”
Margaret stopped on the hospital steps. Mara stood half a pace behind her. Claire remained at her left. Jonah, who had arrived minutes earlier with another agent, watched from near the door.
Margaret’s pale eyes moved over the reporters.
“Last night, an elected county official entered my home, pointed a weapon at me and my family, and placed me in handcuffs. Federal and state authorities are reviewing what occurred. I will cooperate fully. I will not ask anyone to reach conclusions before the evidence is examined, and I will not allow anyone to call violence a misunderstanding simply because the victim survived it.”
A reporter shouted, “Do you blame your nephew?”
Margaret’s jaw shifted.
“I blame each person for the choices that person made.”
She turned toward the waiting vehicle.
May you like
Another voice called, “Are you mentally competent to manage the estate?”
The crowd went quiet in the way crowds do when someone asks what everyone wanted asked and no one wanted to own.
