Chapter 5 - The Invitation.
The Whitmore birthday gala occupied the entire top floor of the Halcyon Hotel.
Crystal chandeliers hung above two hundred guests, a string quartet played beside walls covered in gold leaf, and every table carried enough flowers to pay Emma's rent for a month.
She was not there as a guest.
Marcus had arranged for her to work the private dining room as a temporary server.
That made Adrian furious.
It made Emma suspicious.
Eleanor arrived in the same dark elegance she had worn at Aurelia, this time with a charcoal shawl over her shoulders and a diamond brooch pinned beneath her pearls.
Vanessa Whitmore walked beside her.
Vanessa was Adrian's aunt, a polished woman in her fifties with a smile that never reached her eyes.
She kept one hand around Eleanor's forearm.
Emma disliked her immediately.
When Eleanor saw Emma, her entire face changed.
She signed from across the room.
You came.
Emma answered.
You asked.
Vanessa noticed.
Her smile vanished.
She crossed the room with Marcus.
“We appreciate your willingness to help Mrs. Whitmore feel comfortable,” Vanessa said.
“But please do not discuss business with her.”
Emma gave her a polite server's smile.
“I discuss whatever the guest asks me to discuss.”
Vanessa's expression cooled.
Adrian appeared before she could respond.
He looked exhausted.
“Emma.”
It was the first time he had used her first name.
“Do not accept anything from my grandmother tonight.”
“That sounds less like advice and more like panic.”
“It is both.”
Eleanor tapped her wineglass with a spoon.
The room quieted.
Vanessa stepped toward the microphone.
“My mother has had a difficult year, so I will speak for her.”
Eleanor's chair scraped loudly against the floor.
She stood.
Then she began signing.
Vanessa froze.
Emma did too.
Eleanor signed slowly and deliberately so everyone could see.
I can speak for myself.
A murmur spread through the room.
Most guests did not understand the language, but they understood defiance.
Eleanor pointed directly at Emma.
Translate.
Emma looked at Adrian.
He said nothing.
She stepped forward.
“Mrs. Whitmore says she can speak for herself.”
Vanessa's face hardened.
Eleanor continued.
Tonight I intended to announce a change in control of the family foundation.
Marcus moved toward the sound technician.
The microphone died.
Emma raised her voice without it.
“She says she intended to announce a change in control of the family foundation.”
Marcus spoke over her.
“This is inappropriate.”
Eleanor laughed silently.
Then she signed something that made Emma's breath catch.
The documents are hidden where my husband taught me never to trust a locked safe.
Emma stared.
Eleanor pointed at the silver serving dome on the private dining table.
The same dome from Aurelia.
Somehow it had been brought here.
Adrian saw it too.
Marcus stopped smiling.
Vanessa's hand tightened around her clutch.
Eleanor signed one final sentence.
The thief already touched it once.
Every face in the room seemed to turn toward the silver dome.
Emma also noticed Dr. Kessler standing near the far wall with a champagne flute he never touched.
He avoided Eleanor's eyes whenever she signed.
When Emma passed him with a tray, he asked whether she had any formal certification as an interpreter.
Emma told him she was not working as Eleanor's medical interpreter.
Kessler replied that unofficial interpretation could be dangerous.
The warning sounded less like concern and more like preparation for an argument he expected to make later.
May you like
Then all the lights went out.
The Last Translation
