Chapter 4 - The Room They Searched
“That isn't mine.”
I said it too quickly. I heard the fear in my own voice and hated how much it sounded like guilt in rooms where people expected guilt.
Neil stood beside the table.
“It was under your bed.”
“Who searched my room?”
“Security.”
“Did someone ask the detective first?”
He didn't answer.
Mrs. Bell came through the door behind me.
“Nobody told me about a staff-room search.”
Elias stood near the window.
“We have a serious security incident, Vera.”
“Then it should be handled properly.”
I looked at her.
She didn't look away from him.
The phone on the table rang before anyone spoke again. Bruno put Dante on speaker after telling him who was present.
“Marina,” Dante said. “Have you used that tablet?”
“No.”
“Did you know it was in your room?”
“No.”
My fingers had gone cold.
“I've worked here for three weeks. You said this started four months ago.”
Elias spoke gently.
“We don't yet know when the equipment was installed. Marina may have been used by someone without understanding—”
“Stop,” Dante said.
The room went quiet.
“Let her finish.”
I stared at the phone.
“I found it because I heard it. I didn't know anything about a tablet. And if someone is saying I did, I want the detective here before anyone asks me anything else.”
There was a pause.
Then Dante said, “That's reasonable.”
It nearly undid me.
Not because he had declared me innocent.
Because he had allowed the request to be reasonable.
Bruno called Detective Keene. The tablet was left alone for proper handling, and everyone involved in finding it was identified.
Elias objected that they were wasting time.
Dante didn't change his mind.
When I was given a private room to speak with the detective, my knees shook so badly I sat before she offered a chair.
“You're allowed to be frightened,” she said.
“Will that make the story sound worse?”
She looked at me steadily.
“It makes you a person in a frightening situation.”
I told her about my room. My bag. Which employees had seen me come and go. I gave consent for a properly documented examination of what was mine, with advice available to me.
I wasn't going to solve the accusation by apologizing my way through it.
Later, an attorney named Renee Walsh spoke to me privately. She represented victims and witnesses and made clear that her advice was mine, not a message from Dante.
There were arrangements available for fees through the case and counsel. She explained them. I asked questions until I understood enough to agree.
It was the first legal conversation I'd ever had in which questions weren't treated as a delay.
By evening, I had decided to leave the housekeeping job.
Mrs. Bell looked disappointed until I explained.
“If I keep working here while everyone wonders whether I did it, I'll start treating every room like an examination.”
She folded her hands.
“You're entitled to more than that.”
“I still want to help the investigation.”
“Leaving a job doesn't prevent you telling the truth.”
My earned wages would be paid. The damage to the headboard would not be taken from them. Dante confirmed both in a brief call.
Then he asked whether I had somewhere safe to stay.
Renee helped arrange that question with the investigators rather than leaving it to people whose loyalty I had no way to evaluate.
I chose a temporary guest room in a property away from the estate, with clear arrangements and the freedom to leave. I kept my phone. I called my mother. I asked Mrs. Bell to send me references.
Before I went, Dante called again.
“Leah has found something in the stored material. She needs to ask about a sound you might have heard.”
“All I heard was buzzing.”
“I know. This is different.”
His voice sounded strange.
He asked whether I would join a call with Leah, Dr. Park, and Detective Keene. I agreed after speaking to Renee.
Leah explained that she had located audio among the device contents. Dante had chosen to hear a brief portion because the file description meant something to him.
I could leave the call whenever I wished.
The sound began.
A little background wind.
A woman laughing softly.
Then a voice.
“Dante. Come back to bed.”
The call went silent after Leah stopped the sample.
I heard Dante put something down too hard.
“Who is she?” I asked quietly.
Nobody answered at first.
Then he did.
“My wife.”
May you like
I stopped breathing.
“She died four years ago.”
