CHAPTER 9: The Camera in the Crown Molding

Harrington Hall had cameras hidden in the crown molding above every public room.
The guests knew this in the abstract, the way wealthy people knew about security systems without imagining they might become part of one. The cameras were for intruders, protesters, staff theft, unpredictable strangers from outside the gates.
They were not supposed to watch family tell on itself.
Vivian turned to the security director near the orchestra platform.
'Pull the last ten minutes from the ballroom feed.'
Sebastian's eyes snapped to her.
'You cannot order my staff.'
'They are not your staff,' she said.
The security director looked at Lydia Crane, then at Vivian, and gave a small nod.
That nod changed the temperature under the chandeliers.
Sebastian understood pieces before he understood the whole. Harrington Hall's payroll did not run through Vale Hospitality. The cameras did not belong to his office. The event manager had not answered to him when she moved the easel beside the pastry stand.
Vivian had not arrived tonight unprepared.
She had arrived in her mother's house.