Chapter 3 - The Smile at Dinner.
By six o'clock, the mansion looked ready for a celebration that no longer existed.
White flowers filled the entrance hall.
Caterers moved silver trays through the kitchen.
A string quartet tuned their instruments in the ballroom.
Two hundred guests were expected for a charity dinner that David had agreed to host months earlier.
He wanted to cancel everything.
His publicist argued that doing so without explanation would create more questions than answers.
His lawyer, a younger attorney named Rachel Kim from Hale's own firm, advised him not to make any sudden public statements until she understood what Jonathan Hale had done.
David trusted almost nobody by that point.
He kept Lucy upstairs with Maria and two security guards outside the family wing.
He also removed Natalie from the guest list.
Natalie refused to leave the house.
"I live here," she said when David told her to go.
"Not anymore."
"My clothes are here."
"They'll be packed and delivered wherever you want."
"You can't erase fourteen months because your daughter had a tantrum."
David stared at her.
"This stopped being about a tantrum the moment I found forged papers in her suitcase."
Natalie gave him a long, cold look.
Then she smiled.
It was the same polished smile she wore in photographs and at charity events.
"Fine," she said.
"Enjoy your dinner."
She walked upstairs without another word.
David should have known that surrender came too easily.
At seven thirty, the first guests arrived.
David stood beneath the chandelier in the entrance hall and greeted them with the calm expression expected of the owner of Walker House.
Inside, he was counting every minute since Hale's last message.
Rachel had discovered that Jonathan Hale had left his office shortly after noon.
His assistant did not know where he had gone.
His car had not been seen at his apartment.
His phone was off.
"He knew you saw the message," Rachel whispered when she found David near the ballroom doors.
"How?"
"Because your phone automatically marked the notification as read."
David glanced toward the staircase.
"And Natalie?"
"Her car is still outside."
"She's supposed to be packing."
"Then why is she dressed for dinner?"
David followed Rachel's gaze.
Natalie was descending the staircase.
She had changed into a silver evening gown.
Her dark hair was loose over one shoulder.
The bruise on her wrist was visible because she had deliberately removed her bracelet.
Conversation in the entrance hall softened as people noticed her.
David's stomach turned.
Natalie reached the final step and looked directly at him.
"I thought you asked her to leave," Rachel said.
"I did."
Natalie approached a group of board members and greeted them warmly.
One of them noticed her wrist.
"Natalie, what happened?"
She hesitated with perfect timing.
"It's nothing."
The board member looked concerned.
"That doesn't look like nothing."
Natalie glanced at David.
"It was a difficult afternoon."
David walked toward her.
"We need to talk."
Natalie smiled at the guests.
"Excuse us."
He led her into a side corridor.
The second the ballroom doors closed, her smile vanished.
"You have five minutes to leave."
"Or what?"
"Don't test me tonight."
"I think everyone already saw what happens when I test you."
David looked at her wrist.
"You raised your hand at Lucy."
"And you shoved me to the floor."
"I stopped you."
"That's your version."
"Maria saw it."
Natalie almost laughed.
"Maria is an employee who depends on you for her paycheck."
"The cameras saw it too."
For the first time that evening, Natalie's eyes flickered.
David noticed.
"You forgot about the hallway cameras, didn't you?"
"Did I?"
She stepped closer.
"You might want to check them before you sound so confident."
Then she turned and walked away.
David immediately called the head of security, Owen Price.
"Pull the footage from the east corridor from four thirty to five."
There was a pause.
"Mr. Walker, I'm already looking at it."
"And?"
"There's a gap."
David stopped moving.
"How long?"
"Eleven minutes."
"Which eleven minutes?"
Owen's answer made David close his eyes.
"The exact eleven minutes you were in the corridor with Miss Mercer and Lucy."
David looked across the ballroom.
Natalie was laughing softly with a donor as if nothing had happened.
"Can you recover it?"
"I'm trying."
"Who can delete footage?"
"Me, you, and anyone with administrator access."
"Hale?"
"No."
"Natalie?"
"Absolutely not."
David looked toward the second-floor balcony.
Maria stood there near the railing.
She caught his eye and subtly shook her head.
Then she lifted one finger and pointed toward the service hallway.
David excused himself from the ballroom and followed her.
Maria waited beside the pantry door.
"I need to tell you something," she whispered.
"Tell me."
"The main cameras are not the only cameras in this house."
David frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
Maria looked over her shoulder.
"Mrs. Walker had a second system installed before she died."
David's breath caught at the mention of Emily.
"Why didn't I know?"
"She said she would tell you when she was sure."
"Sure about what?"
Maria's eyes filled with fear.
"That someone inside the house was watching her."
A crash sounded from the ballroom.
David turned instinctively.
When he looked back, Maria was staring at her phone.
A message had appeared on the screen.
She showed it to David without speaking.
Leave now, Maria.
May you like
You have ten minutes before everyone learns what you stole.
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