Chapter 2 - The Name Margaret Feared
Daniel moved toward the staircase, but Margaret caught his arm.
“Let her go.”
Daniel looked down at her.
“She just framed an innocent woman.”
“I know.”
“That sounds like a reason not to let her disappear upstairs.”
Margaret glanced toward Emily.
“Not here.”
Emily almost laughed.
She had just been slapped, publicly accused of theft, and nearly lost her job.
Now Margaret wanted privacy.
“I think I deserve to hear this.”
Margaret’s expression tightened.
“You deserve more than that.”
The answer surprised everyone.
Daniel dismissed the remaining staff and guests from the foyer.
Within minutes, the enormous room became painfully quiet.
Only Daniel, Margaret, Emily, and the security supervisor remained.
Daniel pointed at the necklace.
“Lock that in the office.”
The supervisor nodded.
“And save three copies of the footage.”
Another nod.
“No one deletes anything.”
When the man left, Margaret sat heavily on a velvet bench.
Emily remained standing.
“Who was my mother to you?”
Margaret stared at the floor.
“Laura worked here.”
Emily frowned.
“She told me she cleaned houses when she was younger.”
Margaret shook her head.
“She did more than clean.”
“She became my husband’s bookkeeping assistant.”
Emily’s stomach tightened.
Her mother had never mentioned that.
Margaret continued.
“She was intelligent.”
“Careful.”
“Too careful, according to some people.”
Daniel folded his arms.
“What happened?”
Margaret looked toward the staircase where Vanessa had disappeared.
“Money went missing.”
Emily’s chest tightened.
“How much?”
“Two million dollars.”
Emily stared at her.
“My mother never had two million dollars.”
“I know.”
The room went still.
Emily felt the words like a physical impact.
“You know?”
Margaret’s eyes filled with shame.
“I know now.”
Emily stepped forward.
“You let people believe she stole it?”
Margaret did not answer.
That was answer enough.
A hundred childhood memories suddenly returned.
Moving apartments in the middle of the night.
Her mother checking the locks twice.
Strangers calling their house.
Whispers at school.
Her mother crying over old newspapers and refusing to explain why.
Emily’s anger became difficult to contain.
“She died with people thinking she was a thief.”
Margaret lowered her head.
“Yes.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“When did this happen?”
“Twenty-one years ago.”
Daniel glanced toward Emily.
“How old were you?”
“Six.”
Margaret closed her eyes.
Emily felt cold.
“What does Vanessa have to do with it?”
Margaret opened her eyes again.
“That is what frightens me.”
She looked toward the staircase.
“Vanessa was only a child when Laura disappeared.”
“Then why did she recognize my name?”
Margaret said nothing.
Daniel answered instead.
“Because somebody told her.”
May you like
At that exact moment, a door slammed upstairs.
Then the lights went out.
