Chapter 3 - Dinner with the Man Who Knew
Arthur Vale lived above the city in an apartment so quiet Evelyn could hear the elevator doors closing behind them.
Nothing appeared accidental.
The pale furniture. The silver frames. The woman at the reception desk who looked at Evelyn’s boots before looking at her face.
Damian noticed.
He took Evelyn’s coat himself.
“Still time to leave,” he murmured.
She looked toward the dining room.
“I’ve spent enough of my life leaving rooms because somebody made me feel unwelcome.”
His hand brushed hers.
Then he let it fall.
Arthur stood beside a window, elegant in a navy suit.
“Evelyn. The photographs didn’t do you justice.”
“Which photographs?”
His smile held.
“The wedding photographs, naturally.”
Lenora was already seated at the table.
Of course she was.
“My darling,” she said. “You look tired.”
“I’ve been reading.”
“That can be exhausting when the subject is complicated.”
Evelyn pulled out her own chair.
“I’m finding it gets simpler.”
Dinner arrived beneath silver covers.
Nobody touched it.
Damian placed the false laboratory report beside Arthur’s wineglass.
“Explain.”
Arthur glanced down.
“Thirteen years ago, people made administrative mistakes.”
“A nonexistent laboratory is a substantial administrative mistake.”
“You wanted closure.”
“I wanted my sister.”
Arthur’s expression changed so briefly Evelyn might have missed it if she had not been watching.
Contempt.
Then concern returned.
“Celeste was unstable.”
“What did June cost you?” Evelyn asked.
Arthur turned toward her.
“Excuse me?”
“On the phone. You said I should learn what my mother cost you.”
Lenora reached for her water.
Arthur folded his hands.
“Your mother interfered in a difficult family matter. My daughter required treatment. June encouraged her delusions.”
“What delusions?”
“That everyone who disagreed with her was dangerous.”
“Was she wrong?”
“Evelyn,” Lenora warned.
Damian did not look away from his father.
“Answer her.”
Arthur leaned back.
For the first time, he seemed to understand that the two people across from him had arrived together in more than a car.
“Your sister took company records,” he said. “Confidential material. She was involved with an employee who intended to sell them.”
“Daniel Reyes,” Damian said.
Arthur’s eyes narrowed.
“Yes.”
“What happened to him?”
“He died in an unfortunate boating accident. You know that.”
Evelyn watched Damian’s face.
He knew the name.
He had not known the connection.
Lenora interrupted.
“None of this changes the agreement. Walter’s bills have been paid. Obligations exist.”
Naomi had prepared Evelyn for that sentence.
“My father’s treatment will continue. I’ve revoked your authority over my property. You’ll receive notice from my lawyer.”
Her aunt’s fork struck the plate.
“You ungrateful girl.”
“There she is,” Evelyn said softly.
Lenora stared.
“The person who talks to me when there aren’t witnesses.”
Damian placed his napkin on the table.
“We’re leaving.”
Arthur remained seated.
“If you walk out with her, you should understand that the board meets Monday. Your financing depends on confidence.”
Damian gave a small, humorless smile.
“Then I suggest you inspire some.”
They were halfway to the elevator when Arthur spoke again.
“Ask your bride why June kept the necklace instead of returning it.”
Evelyn stopped.
Arthur watched her carefully.
“Perhaps her mother wasn’t quite the saint she remembers.”
For an instant, doubt opened beneath her.
Then she thought of June dividing one orange into four pieces so Evelyn could pretend there was enough for dessert.
She turned.
“If you had evidence against my mother, you would have put it beside my plate.”
Outside, the cold hit her hard.
Damian walked beside her without speaking until they reached the car.
Then he said, “Daniel was my friend.”
Evelyn waited.
“My father told me he had been stealing from the company. I believed that too.”
“You were twenty-four.”
“I was old enough to answer his last call.”
He looked down at his phone.
“I sent it to voicemail.”
Evelyn did not tell him it was all right.
Some things were not.
Instead, she said, “Then answer the next one.”
His eyes met hers.
Her phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown sender.
A photograph loaded slowly.
An older woman stood outside a greenhouse. Her hair was threaded with gray. A teenage girl beside her held a tray of seedlings.
Beneath it were six words.
June said you would be kind.
Then another message arrived.
Come alone to Briar House tomorrow.
Damian stared at the woman’s face.
May you like
His breath left him.
“Celeste.”
