Chapter 3 - A Maid Under Suspicion
By midnight, the gala guests had left, the crystal fragments had been swept into evidence boxes, and the terrace was sealed off with yellow tape. Elena sat in a staff room while an investigator photographed her torn sleeve and recorded her account.
She described the vibration, the shifted glass, and the loose silver brace, repeating Noah's words without guessing at Adrian's motive.
That should have been enough to make her a witness. Instead, Grant informed her that the household was placing her on paid leave until the investigation was complete.
"Why?" Elena asked.
"You were closest to the display. We need to establish whether you touched the structure before it fell."
"I touched Noah. I pulled him away."
"I'm not accusing you. I'm following procedure."
His tone said otherwise.
Julian appeared in the doorway. He looked exhausted, but he did not reverse the decision. "I need to know what happened before I can protect anyone, Elena. Please cooperate."
"I have been cooperating since the second I saw it move."
She removed her staff badge and set it on the table. "I saved your son. If you need to investigate me, do it. But don't pretend that sending me away is the same as finding the truth."
Julian flinched, then looked down at the badge.
At home, Elena wrote down every detail. The pedestal's stabilizing pin should have kept it from shifting. She had seen it from the side as she ran toward Noah, and it had been pulled out before the fall.
Her event-operations training had taught her that a missing pin was not proof of sabotage, but it was a question no one should ignore.
At 1:17 a.m., her phone buzzed. It was a message from Grace Bell, Julian's executive assistant.
"I saw Adrian near the service corridor before the collapse. Please don't tell him I contacted you."
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A second message followed.
"The red audit folder from Julian's office is missing, too.
