Chapter 3
Claribel was removed from the sunroom.
Not the estate.
Yet.
I wanted truth before consequence.
Leonora found the communication board inside a locked linen cabinet downstairs.
Not hidden well.
Hidden where no one would question its presence.
Claribel apparently told staff Beatrice had stopped using it.
My mother took it the moment I placed it across her lap.
Her left hand shook.
Slowly, she moved the pointer.
C.
L.
A.
R.
I.
B.
E.
L.
Then:
S.
P.
E.
A.
K.
S.
F.
O.
R.
M.
E.
My chest tightened.
“How long?”
She moved again.
M.
O.
N.
T.
H.
S.
I closed my eyes.
The bell came first.
When staff learned one ring meant yes and two meant no, Claribel began interpreting those rings.
Mother noticed answers being reported incorrectly.
So she stopped using the bell.
Then Claribel took the board.
After that, every statement from Beatrice reached the household through one person.
My fiancée.
“What did she tell people you wanted?”
Mother pointed toward herself.
Then toward the hallway.
Leave.
I understood.
“She told people you wanted to move out?”
Yes.
Then Mother pointed toward Milo’s photograph.
Away.
Another yes.
My blood chilled.
Claribel had told Beatrice that Milo no longer enjoyed visiting because seeing his grandmother unable to speak frightened him.
She had told Milo the opposite.
Grandmother became tired when he visited.
He should stop bothering her.
Two people who loved each other separated by invented rejection.
Mother spelled another name.
M.
A.
R.
I.
A.
N.
I knew Marian Bell.
Her longtime companion.
Claribel told me Marian resigned two months ago because the work had become emotionally difficult.
My mother shook her head violently.
Then spelled:
F.
I.
R.
E.
D.
Claribel had removed the only other person fluent enough in Beatrice’s signals to expose what she was doing.
I called Rafe.
“Find Marian.”
Then Mother pulled my sleeve.
She spelled one final word.
M.
I.
L.
O.
Her eyes filled.
I leaned closer.
She pointed toward her mouth.
Then toward the floor.
Bread.
Milo.
Hunger.
May you like
My mother already knew.
She had been trying to warn me before tonight.
