Chapter 4 - The Maid Who Was Supposed to Be Invisible
Arthur pulled Norah behind the heavy curtains.
The office door opened.
Footsteps entered.
Norah could hear her own heartbeat.
A drawer slid open.
Papers moved.
Then a phone vibrated.
Vincent’s voice whispered, “They found the recorder.”
Norah’s eyes widened.
Arthur’s hand closed around hers.
Vincent continued.
“No. Arthur doesn’t know everything yet.”
Pause.
“The girl does.”
Norah felt Arthur tense.
“She goes tomorrow.”
The call ended.
Vincent left.
Arthur remained motionless for ten seconds.
Then he stepped out.
Norah followed.
“Absolutely not.”
He turned.
“You don’t even know what I’m going to do.”
“Yes, I do.”
“What?”
“Something stupid involving rage.”
Arthur almost smiled.
“I was going to move you somewhere safe.”
“Oh.”
Norah folded her arms.
“That’s moderately less stupid.”
“You’re leaving tonight.”
“No.”
His expression darkened.
“Norah.”
“My father spent eleven years protecting me by staying silent.”
She lifted the recorder.
“He died thinking he had failed. I’m not walking away before I learn why.”
“This isn’t your fight.”
“My father is on that recording.”
“It becomes your funeral if Vincent realizes what you know.”
“He already does.”
That silenced him.
Norah continued.
“And I have something Vincent doesn’t.”
“What?”
“Invisibility.”
Arthur frowned.
“I clean his room.”
By morning, Norah was pushing her housekeeping cart through the second floor as though nothing had changed.
Vincent left at eight.
Norah entered his suite at 8:12.
She changed sheets.
Emptied trash.
Polished furniture.
Then searched.
Nothing.
She was about to leave when she noticed a photograph on the desk.
Vincent and Salvatore Costello.
Behind them stood Daniel Reed.
Norah lifted it.
A number was written on the frame.
Her breath caught.
She searched the desk again.
A hotel receipt was hidden beneath the drawer.
The date was tomorrow.
A suite at the Palmer House.
One name had been handwritten beneath it.
M. Costello.
Norah photographed everything.
At lunch, she found Arthur in the pantry.
“This is ridiculous,” he said.
“You told me to meet you somewhere nobody watches.”
“I meant the conservatory.”
“Everyone watches you in the conservatory.”
Norah handed him her phone.
Arthur examined the images.
“M. Costello.”
“Who is that?”
His face changed.
“My mother.”
Norah stared.
“You told me your mother died.”
“She did.”
“When?”
“Twenty-two years ago.”
“Then Vincent is meeting a dead woman tomorrow?”
Arthur looked at the photograph again.
“No.”
He enlarged the receipt.
“M could mean Michael.”
“Who’s Michael?”
Arthur looked up.
“My brother.”
Norah blinked.
“You have a brother?”
“Had.”
“That word is becoming suspicious around here.”
Arthur ignored the comment.
“Michael disappeared sixteen years ago.”
“Dead?”
“We assumed.”
“You assumed?”
“There was blood in his car. No body.”
Norah stared.
“Arthur.”
“I was twenty-two.”
“And Vincent?”
“Handled the investigation.”
The pattern became obvious.
“Your father.”
Arthur nodded.
“Your brother.”
“Yes.”
“My father.”
“Yes.”
“All roads lead to Vincent.”
Arthur looked toward the pantry door.
“Which means the hotel meeting matters.”
The following evening, Arthur did something nobody in the estate expected.
He attended a charity dinner.
Publicly.
Vincent accompanied him.
Norah took the subway downtown.
At 9:20, she entered the Palmer House dressed as housekeeping staff.
Suite 814 was registered under another name.
Norah positioned her cart nearby.
At 9:43, a man arrived.
Tall.
Gray-haired.
A scar crossed his jaw.
He knocked.
The door opened.
Norah saw only the person’s hand.
The man entered.
Norah approached.
She placed a listening device Arthur had given her beneath the service table outside.
Voices came through her earpiece.
“You’re late,” Vincent said.
Norah froze.
Vincent was supposed to be with Arthur.
Then another voice answered.
“I had to make sure Arthur was occupied.”
Norah recognized neither speaker.
Vincent said, “The Reed girl found the box key.”
The second man cursed.
“What about Arthur?”
“He’s attached to her.”
Norah almost laughed from nerves.
Attached?
Arthur had spent half their conversations ordering her to disappear.
Vincent continued.
“That makes her useful.”
“For what?”
“To control him.”
Norah’s blood chilled.
The elevator chimed.
She turned.
Arthur stepped out.
He wore a black tuxedo.
His face was furious.
“What are you doing here?” she whispered.
“Vincent left the dinner.”
“So you followed him?”
“I followed you.”
“That defeats the entire point of me being invisible.”
Arthur took her earpiece.
Inside the suite, Vincent said, “Tomorrow night. Once Arthur signs the port transfer, we end this.”
The stranger answered, “And the girl?”
A pause.
Vincent laughed quietly.
“Daniel Reed made the mistake of thinking silence would save his daughter.”
Arthur’s face went cold.
Norah touched his arm.
“Don’t.”
Then the suite door suddenly opened.
Vincent stood there.
He looked at Arthur.
Then Norah.
May you like
And smiled.
“I was wondering how long it would take you.”
