Chapter 5 - CALL THE POLICE—NOWMadeline refused to unlock the office.
She said it contained confidential estate records.
The police could not force entry without proper authority unless they believed evidence or emergency medication was inside.
The guest’s video showed Madeline carrying my bag through that door.
My inhaler was necessary medical property.
That gave them cause to act.
Madeline finally produced the key.
An officer entered with Grace as a witness.
They returned carrying my champagne-colored handbag.
The inhaler remained inside.
So did Grace’s sealed envelope.
The envelope had been opened.
Madeline claimed it was already unsealed when she took the bag.
Grace shook her head.
“I closed it myself.”
The officer documented the torn edge.
I used my prescribed inhaler only after paramedics confirmed it was safe.
My breathing improved.
Nathan looked at the envelope.
“What is that?”
“Your mother’s letter.”
His face changed.
“My mother wrote to you?”
“I didn’t know until this morning.”
Grace lowered her eyes.
“I should have delivered it eight months ago.”
Madeline glared at her.
“Do not say another word.”
Nathan turned toward his sister.
“You don’t control her statement.”
Madeline laughed bitterly.
“You arrive after months away and suddenly become a husband again?”
The accusation reached him.
It should have.
He had not been there when I needed him eight months earlier.
Protecting me now did not erase that.
Nathan gave the envelope to the officer rather than opening it himself.
“Preserve it.”
Madeline stared at him.
“You’re giving family papers to police?”
“I’m giving potential evidence to the people investigating an assault.”
“This will destroy us.”
“No,” he said. “What happened may expose us.”
The difference mattered.
Paramedics moved me toward the ambulance.
Nathan tried to follow.
I stopped him.
“Stay.”
He looked surprised.
“Find out what happened.”
“I don’t want you alone.”
“I won’t be.”
Grace offered to ride with me.
The paramedics agreed.
I looked at Nathan.
“Do not protect Madeline from the evidence.”
His jaw tightened.
“I won’t.”
“Do not punish her before the evidence either.”
He nodded.
That was harder.
As the stretcher crossed the entrance, I looked up at the chandelier.
Eight months earlier, I left beneath it while staff avoided my eyes.
This time, guests had witnessed the truth.
The ambulance doors closed.
Grace sat beside me.
Her hands were shaking.
“I’m sorry.”
“For tonight?”
“For the night you left.”
I turned toward her.
“What did you do?”
May you like
She began to cry.
“I lied.”
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