Chapter 9 - THE RECORDING
No one secretly bugged Ophelia.
The recording came from the dining room’s standard event-security system, installed after a burglary scare.
Visible cameras.
Visible microphones for emergency documentation.
The evening before the inhaler incident, Ophelia had been speaking with Elaine Porter near the sideboard.
Audio was imperfect.
Clear enough.
ELAINE:
Gemma’s Arbor interview is Monday.
OPHELIA:
Then terminate her Sunday.
ELAINE:
On what basis?
OPHELIA:
Insubordination.
ELAINE:
Her reports are protected.
OPHELIA:
Not if the behavior comes first.
Then:
ELAINE:
What behavior?
Ophelia’s answer:
“She keeps turning Lucy into a medical emergency every time the child coughs.”
Elaine said:
“The care plan says she can administer the inhaler.”
Then Ophelia:
“Plans can be wrong.”
Pause.
“If Lucy gets through dinner without it, we have proof Gemma is creating dependency.”
There.
The next night:
Dinner.
Lucy’s inhaler.
Sideboard.
Gemma.
The test.
Then one last sentence.
OPHELIA:
Once Gemma is gone, her complaints look exactly like what they are—retaliation from a maid who could not stay in her place.
That was the plan.
Not to kill Lucy.
Not to cause a severe attack.
Ophelia expected the child to settle.
She intended to produce a demonstration.
A three-year-old would breathe without medication.
Gemma would interfere anyway.
Ophelia would call it insubordination.
Fire her before Monday.
Then attack her credibility during the certification review.
May you like
The central secret was ready.
And it was more calculated than simple cruelty.
