Chapter 5
The woman who changed the investigation was named Leah Morgan.
She had been Noah’s nanny for almost two years.
Richard had met her many times.
Then, six months earlier, Mark said she had accepted another job.
That was a lie.
Mark had fired her.
Leah agreed to speak after Miriam contacted her.
She arrived at the lodge wearing jeans, snow boots, and an expression that made Richard uncomfortable before she said a word.
“I tried to call you.”
“When?”
“June.”
Richard remembered.
His assistant had mentioned a former employee asking to speak with him.
Richard had been preparing for negotiations in New York.
He told the assistant to send the problem to Mark.
He closed his eyes briefly.
“What happened?”
Leah looked toward the room where Noah was playing with wooden blocks.
“Claudia started cutting my hours.”
“At first I thought they wanted more family time.”
Then meals changed.
Noah sometimes arrived downstairs without breakfast.
His shoes became too small.
New clothes Leah ordered were returned.
His preschool attendance became irregular.
“I asked Mark.”
“What did he say?”
“That Noah was spoiled because everybody treated him like a tragedy after his mother died.”
Richard’s expression hardened.
Leah continued.
“Claudia said he needed to learn that crying didn’t get rewards.”
“Did you see her hurt him?”
“I saw her grab him.”
“Did Mark know?”
“He was there once.”
Richard stared at her.
“What did he do?”
“He told Noah to stop provoking her.”
Richard walked toward the window.
The mountain outside was white and quiet.
He wanted to break something.
Instead, he asked another question.
“Why were you fired?”
Leah took out her phone.
“I questioned these.”
Photographs of invoices.
One showed reimbursement for forty hours of childcare in a week when Leah had worked twelve.
Another billed for a second nanny who did not exist.
Leah had emailed Mark.
He fired her the next day.
“Did you tell Claudia?”
“She knew.”
“Did she help?”
“I don’t know.”
Leah hesitated.
“But after I was fired, Claudia asked me to sign a confidentiality agreement.”
Richard turned.
“Did you?”
“No.”
That explained why she was willing to speak.
Then Leah said something stranger.
“The week before I left, moving boxes started showing up.”
“What moving boxes?”
“Mark said they were decluttering.”
Noah’s clothes.
Books.
Bedroom furniture.
Some toys.
Not everything.
But enough that Leah thought they were renovating.
“Where were the boxes going?”
“Storage.”
Richard remembered Noah saying his good clothes were gone.
Leah continued.
“One box had Noah’s name on it.”
“So?”
“It wasn’t going to storage.”
May you like
Richard looked at her.
“The shipping label was for this lodge.”
