Chapter 8 - The Bouquet in the Laundry BinEmily returned to Aster House on Tuesday.
Not as an employee.
As a visitor accompanied by an attorney.
Lydia Cho walked beside her through the hotel lobby, carrying a leather portfolio and a carefully worded letter requesting preservation of evidence.
The hotel manager, Helen Price, met them near the concierge desk.
Helen was in her early fifties, with a composed expression and the exhausted eyes of someone who had spent decades solving other people's emergencies.
"Miss Reyes," she said. "I understand this has been difficult."
Emily looked around the grand lobby.
A wedding arrangement still stood beside the staircase.
Its white roses had begun to wilt.
"That's one way to describe it."
Helen glanced at Lydia.
"Our legal team received your letter."
"And?"
"We're preserving the records we're required to preserve."
Lydia kept her voice calm.
"That includes video, access logs, staffing rosters, incident reports, and communications relating to the west service corridor."
Helen nodded.
"Yes."
Emily looked toward the ballroom.
"I also need my belongings."
Helen frowned.
"What belongings?"
"A small notebook. I left it in my locker when security removed me."
"The lockers were cleared on Sunday."
Emily felt her stomach tighten.
"Where did everything go?"
Helen consulted her tablet.
"Unclaimed personal effects were sent to the lost-and-found office."
Lydia stepped forward.
"Then we'd like to inspect those items."
Helen hesitated, then led them downstairs.
The basement corridors were quieter than Emily remembered.
The wedding decorations had been removed, but the faint smell of flowers lingered.
At the lost-and-found office, Emily recovered her notebook.
A page had been folded.
She knew she had not folded it herself.
She opened the book.
Nothing appeared missing.
But several penciled notes about North Quay Facilities had been underlined.
Emily said nothing.
Lydia noticed the change in her expression.
She leaned closer.
Emily whispered, "Someone read it."
Lydia's face remained neutral.
"Put it away. We'll document that later."
As they returned through the service corridor, Emily heard a familiar voice.
"Miss Reyes?"
Ben Ortiz stood beside a laundry cart.
He looked around thirty, with tired eyes and a nervous habit of rubbing his hands together.
Emily stopped.
"Ben."
He glanced at Lydia.
"Are you a lawyer?"
"Yes," Lydia replied. "I'm representing Emily."
Ben looked toward the employee elevators.
"I shouldn't talk here."
Lydia handed him her card.
"You can contact me privately if you'd like."
Ben hesitated.
Then he reached into the laundry cart and pulled out a green ribbon.
It was attached to several crushed flower stems.
Emily stared.
The yellow daisy was gone.
But the ribbon was unmistakable.
Liam had tied it in an uneven knot.
Ben lowered his voice.
"I found this under the catering rack after the wedding. I was going to throw it away."
Emily accepted it carefully.
"Why did you keep it?"
"Because of the little boy."
He swallowed.
"I saw the cart pass through the spot where you pulled him away."
"Would you tell someone that?"
Ben looked frightened.
"My supervisor already asked me to sign a statement."
"What statement?"
"That I didn't witness any danger."
Lydia studied him.
"Did you sign it?"
Ben shook his head.
"Not yet."
"Then don't sign anything you know is inaccurate."
Ben glanced over his shoulder.
"I need this job."
Emily understood.
She had needed hers too.
She held the ribbon in her palm.
"I'm not asking you to lose your job for me."
Ben looked at her bruised cheek.
"You lost yours for that kid."
Before Emily could answer, footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Helen appeared at the corner.
"Is everything all right?"
Lydia replied smoothly.
"We've recovered the personal property. Thank you."
Ben returned to his laundry cart.
Emily followed Lydia toward the elevator.
Once the doors closed, Lydia looked at the ribbon.
"Don't handle that more than necessary."
Emily nodded.
"It came from the bouquet."
"It may help establish where the flowers ended up. We should photograph it, document how Ben found it, and preserve it properly."
Emily looked down at the crooked knot.
For the first time since the wedding, something inside her loosened.
Not because a ribbon could prove everything.
It could not.
But because someone else remembered that Liam's flowers had been in the service lane.
And because Ben had chosen not to throw away the small piece of evidence.
They stepped into the lobby.
Emily's phone vibrated.
A message from Carla appeared.
I need to tell you something about the wedding. Please don't mention my name yet.
Emily showed Lydia.
Another message arrived.
Victoria's coordinator changed the cart route right before Liam brought his flowers. The original route didn't go past the ballroom.
Emily stopped walking.
The ribbon suddenly felt heavier.
May you like
Until that moment, she had believed Victoria's cruelty created a dangerous situation.
Now there was a possibility that the danger itself had been arranged.
Related Stories
