Chapter 10 - A Second Child
Sam Bennett had been eight when he wandered through that same service gate during a swim party. His mother, Rachel, found him standing on a slippery step above the deep end, too frightened to move. A coach got him back before he fell.
"They told us the gate would be fixed that week," Rachel said when I called. "Then they offered a free year of lessons and asked us not to make trouble. I thought it was an apology."
"Did anyone ask you to sign something?"
"A paper saying no one was hurt and we'd keep the matter private. I didn't think another child could end up there."
"I'm sorry," I said. "I sit on the board. I should have known."
"Then stop apologizing and make sure it can't happen again."
I scheduled an emergency board meeting. Vivian refused, citing a donor dinner and a quorum rule. Peter Voss, the treasurer, sent me a private message: DON'T FORCE THIS. IT WON'T END WHERE YOU THINK.
I called him. "Does that mean you knew about Sam?"
"It means there are liabilities you haven't considered. Your signature is on the delay."
"Then let the investigator see it."
He was quiet for so long I thought the call had dropped.
"The invoices were paid from Anna's scholarship fund," he finally said. "Vivian said the money would be replaced after the fundraiser."
Anna's fund paid for lessons for children whose families couldn't afford them. It was the last project she had worked on before she died.
"How much?" I asked.
"Nearly a hundred thousand dollars over three years."
"And you approved it?"
"I trusted the director. So did you."
May you like
I looked at Anna's photograph on the wall and felt the weight of that sentence.
Then Peter said, "There is one more camera. It never went through Vivian's office."
