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“Lucie, what are you doing here at this time?” Mara’s voice called down the corridor as the echo of a hoover stopped.

“Hi, Mara. One of the day elves called in sick this morning, so Hannah asked if I could cover.”

“Thanks for stepping up at the last minute.”

“Always happy to help,” Lucie said, forcing a smile even as she sensed she might regret saying that at the end of the twelve-hour shift.

“I’m glad I caught you. I wanted to ask you about yesterday’s incident at the Delaneys’ home.”

Lucie’s stomach tightened. With Hannah not having said anything, she half expected Frances to have brushed it all under the carpet — but then again, that security guard was ruthlessly efficient.

“Can you tell me what really happened?”

Lucie froze for a moment, unsure what to say. Even after her conversation with Frances last night, that small amount of gratitude she’d received for covering for Rose didn’t make her feel any less like she had a target on her back.

“It’s not my place to...” She trailed off, unsure what might be saying too much. She had no idea what Mara knew or what she was trying to draw out of her.

“I know you weren’t the one making toast yesterday — two minutes after we spoke.” Mara raised an eyebrow as she tapped a folder she was cradling. “The security report confirms the timings. Frances is a good friend. I’m worried about her — and Rose.”

If she was such a good friend, Lucie wondered, why she didn’t already know what was going on? As if she were reading Lucie’s mind, Mara went on.

“Frances is stubborn and plays her cards close to her chest. I want to help her, even if she doesn’t think she needs it. I don’t want you to say anything you don’t feel comfortable with, but I think something is going on with Rose. I’m fairly sure she doesn’t do charity work; in fact, I suspect she barely leaves the house. Frances is always clock-watching. She panics if she’s late leaving for lunch or at the end of the day. She used to be someone who never left her desk, yet these past months, she flies away at set times.”

Lucie nervously shifted her rucksack to her other shoulder.

“People have mentioned that Rose has been wandering around the hall looking lost... lost in a place she used to live. So I’m going to make an assumption, and you don’t have to answer. It’s probably easier if you don’t, unless you want to deny it, of course. I wouldn’t want to be under the wrong impression. Okay?”

Lucie nodded, drawing her lips in and biting them. Was saying nothing betraying Frances’s trust? Not that she felt she had ‘a trust’ with Frances, despite assuring her she wouldn’t say anything.

“I believe Rose has some form of dementia.”

Lucie tensed. By not denying it, she was confirming it. She opened her mouth, then closed it again. Mara had cornered her, and she knew it. She must be desperate to get answers.

Mara dropped her gaze and her shoulders.

Lucie had liked her from the moment they met. Why Frances hadn’t confided in her, she couldn’t fathom. Dementia was hard to care for with proper support; it was damn near impossible alone.

“Thank you,” Mara said. “You’ve been very helpful.”

She hoped she hadn’t been.

“One last thing. Why take the blame for something you didn’t do? We take incidents like this very seriously on-site. We have a lot to protect.”

She wanted to say, Because Frances needed me to, but she couldn’t. Instead, a smile unhelpfully edged its way onto her lips at the thought that Frances needed her at all. Mara’s arching eyebrow suggested some quick thinking was in order to get out of this. What could she say without giving everything away? Even if, apparently, she’d already done exactly that?

“I know you do,” Lucie replied. “I just felt, in that moment, that something more needed protecting than the building.”

Mara squeezed her shoulder. “Let’s pretend we never had this conversation, shall we?”

Lucie nodded. “Please.”

Mara turned and walked away. Lucie watched her go, impressed that she’d managed to have an entire conversation and barely say a word. It helped her feel as if she hadn’t betrayed any so-called trust.

Down in the staff room, she stuffed her belongings into a locker, noticing all the new faces of the day shift around her. She was more than happy to keep to herself today; there was only so much small talk she could make with people she had nothing in common with and would never see again once her contract ended.

“Ah, there you are, Lucie.” Hannah’s voice came from the doorway. “Thank you for coming in at such short notice this morning.” Her tone shifted as she added, more quietly, “A word before you start your shift, please?”

A groan almost escaped her, but she managed to stop herself in time. Something told Lucie that Hannah now knew something. She followed her to a quiet corner of the room.