The investigator did not try to block him, but he raised his phone to his ear.

“He’s moving toward the study,” the man said into the receiver.

Mark stopped in the doorway.

He looked back at me over his shoulder, his eyes dark.

“You think you won, Claire?” he asked.

“I haven’t even started,” I said.

“You’re going to lose everything,” Mark said.

“I already lost my mother,” I said. “You can’t take anything else that matters to me.”

“We’ll see about that,” Mark said.

He disappeared into the hallway.

Patricia followed him, her heels clicking rapidly on the parquet.

Juliette stood by the piano, looking at the empty doorway.

“He’s a monster,” she said softly.

“You helped him,” I said.

“I didn’t know,” she said. “I swear I didn’t know about the charity.”

“But you knew he was married,” I said.

She did not answer, looking down at her red dress.

The color looked bright and foolish in the dusty room.

“You should leave too,” I said.

She looked at me for a moment, then walked out.

The front door shut a moment later.