“My daughter and I have been boiling water on a hot plate just to wash our faces.”

“There is no hot water in the entire B-wing of Brindlewood,” I added.

“The pipes are freezing, and you told us it was a city-wide grid issue.”

Arthur wiped his brow with the back of his hand.

His skin looked greasy under the yellow light.

“It is a municipal issue,” Arthur stammered. “The main line under Elm Street is cracked.”

“I spoke to the city water department yesterday,” I said. “They said the issue is entirely internal to Brindlewood.”

“They don’t know what they are talking about,” Arthur said, his voice echoing in the empty lobby.

“The city workers are lazy. They always try to push the blame onto the property managers.”

He adjusted his collar, pulling it away from his neck.

“We hired Apex Plumbing to handle the internal pipes weeks ago,” Arthur said.

“They are the ones who failed to deliver.”

“They claimed they were waiting on parts from an overseas supplier.”

“It is a supply chain problem, Mr. Graves,” Arthur said, turning to Nathaniel.