Chapter 5 - The Room They Put in My Name

I hadn't booked a suite. I had driven down from Boston for the rehearsal and planned to sleep in the small room reserved for bridesmaids. Now, according to a hotel invoice, I occupied the estate's private carriage suite, three hundred yards from the main building.

"Who checked in?" I asked Ira.

"The room key was collected by Elaine Cole. She listed herself as your assistant."

Nia kept her eyes on the road, but I saw her fingers tighten around the wheel. "Merritt, we can't fix this by calling it a family misunderstanding. Someone designed it to look like you authorized a business expense."

I called the venue and requested copies of the guest-suite booking, the payment authorization and any preservation policy for stairwell security footage. The events director, Frances Bell, was polite until I mentioned the stairwell.

"I understand there was an unfortunate accident," she said. "Our insurer handles those requests."

"Please preserve all footage from six p.m. until midnight. I'm reporting an assault."

"Miss Cole, the estate values your family's privacy."

"Then preserve the footage privately and give it to the police when requested."

There was a pause. "We've received a signed statement that you fell after drinking."

I stared out at the fishing boats on the harbor. "I hadn't had a drink. I was taking medication that makes alcohol unsafe. Who signed it?"

"It came from your mother, but it bears your signature."

Someone had forged a second document. If I hadn't been hurting so badly, I might have appreciated how thoroughly my parents had planned to erase me from that night.

After I hung up, a message from the unknown witness appeared.

They paid me to delete the video. I didn't. Meet me at the coffee shop across from the harbor police station. Noon. Please come alone.

Nia read it over my shoulder. "You are not going alone."

"The witness is scared."

"So are you," she said. "The difference is, you're not letting it stop you."

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At noon we found a young woman in a black server's uniform near the back exit of the cafe. She held a paper cup with both hands.

"My name is Talia Ruiz," she whispered. "I recorded your sister. But there's something else you need to see. Your father wasn't trying to hide the payment. He was trying to hide who the payment went to."