“See?” Celeste cried. “I told you.” She pointed toward the screen with a trembling finger, making herself the center of the scene again.

Naomi stared at the screen. Her protective shove was unmistakable, but severed from everything preceding it, the gesture looked like an unprovoked attack.

“That recording starts too late,” she said. “You know it does.” Naomi forced herself to keep her hands still while the incomplete recording replayed.

The guest frowned. “That’s when I started filming. I didn’t see the beginning.” He looked increasingly uncertain about having presented the recording as complete evidence.

“Then say that,” Elena managed, her voice trembling. “Please don’t let sixteen seconds become the whole truth.” Her gaze moved from one witness to another, pleading for something more careful than instant judgment.

The ambulance crew entered through the arch. As they checked Elena’s breathing and examined her bruised knee, she saw Evelyn turn away to answer a ringing phone.

Celeste leaned toward her mother and spoke in a voice Elena could not catch. Evelyn’s face tightened, and she glanced at the guests still holding their phones.

Daniel stayed beside Elena during the examination. When the paramedic advised a hospital assessment for possible inhaled water and the fall, he agreed immediately and helped her stand.

Elena looked again toward the fountain. “My clutch,” she whispered. “There are papers inside. I need them.” She could almost feel Celeste watching the water rather than the injured woman beside it.

Naomi told Bell exactly where it had settled underwater. Bell instructed a staff member to retrieve it with clean gloves, and Elena watched until the little ivory bag appeared.

Water spilled from the clasp. One corner of the cream envelope inside had darkened, and a few numbers showed through its damp surface like shadows behind a closed curtain.

Celeste took an involuntary step forward. Daniel noticed. “Why are you interested in my wife’s purse?” he asked. The question brought a brief silence that Celeste could not immediately fill with indignation.

“I’m interested in getting this circus over with,” Celeste answered. She looked away quickly, but Naomi had already seen her eyes settle on the envelope.

Bell sealed the clutch in a clear evidence bag at Daniel’s request. Before he could carry it toward the service office, Evelyn told him it should stay with the family.

“No,” Elena said. The firmness of her own voice surprised her. “It belongs with me, and the police can photograph it first.”

Evelyn studied her for a long second. In that silence, Elena recognized the familiar Mercer belief that certain problems were better handled behind locked family doors.

At the ambulance doors, Iris hurried toward Naomi. “I didn’t get a clear shot of the push,” she murmured. “But there’s something else I think you should see.”

Naomi reached for her phone, ready to exchange numbers. Iris shook her head, glancing at Bell and the fountain cameras above the stone columns.

“Not here,” Iris whispered. “Someone asked me for all my raw footage before the ceremony even ended.” She folded her arms as though hiding the shaking of her hands beneath her sleeves.

Elena was helped into the ambulance. As Daniel climbed in beside her, she caught a final glimpse of Celeste beneath the lights, typing furiously on her phone.

The doors closed, separating them from the courtyard. Daniel pressed his forehead gently against Elena’s and promised that the wedding night would not be the story of their marriage.

Then Elena’s phone vibrated inside the dry coat pocket the paramedic had given her. A message from an unknown number appeared beneath the cracked glass.

May you like

YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE FOUNDATION ACCOUNTS ALONE. The message occupied the entire screen, turning the hospital journey suddenly cold again.

She looked at Daniel, and for the first time that night, she understood that the fountain might have been only the beginning.
CHAPTER 3

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