Chapter 2 - The Dry Deck
The police arrived seven minutes later.
Daniel remembered every second.
He remembered Lily asking why the men at the gate had flashing lights.
He remembered Rosa carrying her upstairs.
He remembered Naomi refusing Eleanor’s order to leave the property.
Most of all, he remembered his mother standing beneath the portrait of Thomas Mercer in the entrance hall as two Charleston police officers entered.
She looked less like a suspect than a queen receiving unwelcome diplomats.
Officer Rebecca Sloan separated everyone immediately.
Daniel gave his account.
Naomi gave hers.
Rosa confirmed the sequence.
Eleanor asked for her attorney.
She denied trying to hurt Lily.
“I prepared the child for swimming,” she said evenly. “Nothing more.”
“What about the second vest?” Officer Sloan asked.
“I have no knowledge of it.”
Naomi’s mouth fell open.
“That isn’t true.”
Eleanor did not look at her.
The duplicate vest, the metal object and the intact vest Lily had worn were photographed and collected.
Daniel watched an evidence technician seal them into separate bags.
Only then did the full horror become real.
This wasn’t a family argument anymore.
Objects had numbers.
Photographs had timestamps.
Statements had signatures.
His mother’s actions were becoming evidence.
Daniel called Lily’s pediatrician.
Then his attorney.
Then, against every instinct Eleanor had trained into him, he called his younger sister, Caroline.
She answered on the third ring.
“What happened?”
Daniel leaned against the library door.
“How do you know something happened?”
“Mother called me.”
His blood chilled.
“When?”
“About five minutes ago.”
The police had taken Eleanor’s phone.
So she had contacted Caroline before they arrived.
“What did she say?”
“That you were having some kind of breakdown.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Caroline, listen carefully. She may have tried to kill Lily.”
Silence.
Then a breathless laugh.
“That’s not funny.”
“I’m not joking.”
He explained.
Caroline stopped interrupting.
When Daniel finished, she whispered, “No.”
“That’s what Naomi saw.”
“Mother would never hurt Lily.”
“That’s what I believed an hour ago.”
“You hate her.”
Daniel straightened.
“I disagree with her. That isn’t the same thing.”
“You’ve wanted her off the Mercer Hospitality board for two years.”
“This has nothing to do with the company.”
Caroline hesitated.
The hesitation mattered.
Daniel heard it.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“What aren’t you telling me?”
“Daniel—”
“What?”
Caroline’s voice lowered.
“There’s a board meeting Friday.”
“I know.”
“No. You don’t know.”
Daniel looked through the library windows.
Outside, detectives photographed the pool deck.
“What happens Friday?”
Caroline exhaled.
“Mother planned to remove you as chief executive.”
Daniel said nothing.
Mercer Hospitality had begun with one seaside hotel built by his grandfather.
It now owned twenty-three luxury properties across six states.
Daniel had been CEO for five years.
Eleanor remained chairwoman.
Their relationship had deteriorated steadily since his father died.
But removal?
“She doesn’t have the votes.”
“She thinks she does.”
“With whose support?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re on the board.”
“I said I don’t know.”
It was a lie.
Daniel knew his sister’s lies. She spoke faster when frightened and slower when ashamed.
She was speaking very slowly.
“Caroline.”
“Please don’t involve me.”
The line went dead.
Daniel stood motionless.
Behind him, Officer Sloan approached.
“Mr. Mercer?”
Daniel turned.
“We found something you should know.”
The officer led him toward the terrace.
The service door had a security camera above it.
Daniel’s pulse jumped.
“There’s video?”
“Apparently not.”
“What do you mean?”
“The camera should cover the cabinet where the second vest was found.”
“And?”
“The recording system was disabled from 2:03 until 2:19.”
Daniel checked his watch.
Naomi had called him at 2:12.
“Who can disable it?”
“We’re finding out.”
Daniel already knew.
The mansion’s security system required administrator access.
Only three people had unrestricted privileges.
Daniel.
Eleanor.
And Malcolm Reed, the Mercer family’s longtime head of security.
“Where’s Malcolm?” Daniel asked.
Officer Sloan glanced toward another detective.
“That’s what we were about to ask you.”
Daniel pulled out his phone.
Malcolm had worked for his father for eighteen years.
Former Marine.
Quiet.
Reliable.
Trusted with family schedules, security codes and alarm systems.
Daniel called.
No answer.
Again.
Voicemail.
He tried a third time.
Nothing.
Officer Sloan said, “His vehicle isn’t here.”
Daniel frowned.
“He was scheduled today.”
Naomi, standing nearby, suddenly lifted her head.
“He was here.”
Everyone looked at her.
“When?”
“This morning.”
“You saw him?”
“At breakfast.”
“Did he leave?”
“I don’t know.”
Rosa approached from the stairs.
Her face had gone white again.
“Mr. Daniel.”
“What is it?”
“There was something strange.”
“Tell me.”
“Mr. Reed came into the kitchen at eleven. He asked whether Lily was swimming today.”
Daniel felt the room contract around him.
“What exactly did he say?”
Rosa swallowed.
“He said, ‘Is the little one going in the pool after lunch?’”
Officer Sloan immediately wrote it down.
Daniel looked at the sealed evidence bag containing the duplicate vest.
His mother’s warning returned.
Once the police enter this house, they will find things that have nothing to do with Lily.
Maybe Eleanor had not been warning him.
Maybe she had been warning someone else.
Daniel turned toward the west wing.
His father’s study had remained locked since Thomas Mercer died three years earlier.
Eleanor had insisted no one touch it.
May you like
Not even Daniel.
He suddenly wondered why.
