Chapter 4 - PREPARED IN ADVANCE
Graham Holt slid three printed pages across the consultation table.
“Mr. Vale, these are incident reports concerning Ms. Moreno.”
Clara did not touch them.
Adrian did.
Each report described an event involving Emma.
Excessive sleepiness.
A missed feeding.
An unexplained bruise on her thigh.
Every document carried Clara’s employee number.
Every one had been signed by Mason.
And every one had been copied to Vanessa.
“Why haven’t I seen these?” Adrian asked.
Graham folded his hands. “Your household chain of command was designed to keep minor staff matters from reaching you.”
“I designed that chain of command.”
“And your wife administered it.”
Vanessa leaned toward him. “Because you asked me to.”
Clara finally picked up the first report.
“This date is wrong.”
Graham smiled. “That’s your defense?”
“I was in Boston that week.”
Adrian looked at her.
“My mother had surgery,” Clara said. “I was gone six days. Emma stayed with night nurses.”
Dr. Cole pulled the report closer. “Then someone documented a medication incident under your employee number while you weren’t present.”
Vanessa’s face tightened.
Graham stood. “We should be careful about turning administrative errors into conspiracy.”
Olivia, who had been sitting silently against the wall, spoke.
“Who wrote them?”
Graham looked at her. “Excuse me?”
“The reports. Who typed them?”
“That’s irrelevant.”
“No, it isn’t.”
Olivia turned her laptop around. “The file metadata says they were created on the same computer.”
Adrian stared at her.
She shrugged without humor. “You pay for a very expensive school.”
The computer name appeared on the screen.
VALE-HOUSE-ADMIN-02.
Vanessa’s private office.
The room went silent.
Vanessa recovered first. “Mason uses my office.”
“After midnight?” Olivia asked.
Graham snapped his folder shut. “This conversation is over.”
Adrian stood between him and the door.
“No. It just started.”
Graham’s pleasant expression disappeared.
Adrian looked at Vanessa. “Give me your phone.”
“No.”
“Then leave my children’s floor.”
“I am your wife.”
“You pushed my baby toward a staircase.”
Vanessa’s face sharpened. “And you slapped an innocent woman in front of witnesses. Be careful which mistakes you think can be used against whom.”
The words landed exactly where she intended.
Adrian flinched.
Clara saw it.
“Don’t let shame make you stupid twice,” she said.
Before he could answer, Dr. Cole’s pager sounded.
She checked the message and looked at Adrian.
“The hospital pharmacy just confirmed something.”
“What?”
“The drug in Emma’s blood came from a liquid formulation discontinued two years ago.”
Adrian frowned.
May you like
Dr. Cole continued.
“The last large private purchase in this state was made by the Vale Family Foundation.”
