Chapter 3 - The Warning Claire Had Been Told to Ignore
The first consequence of the fire was immediate.
The mansion was declared unsafe for occupancy until structural and electrical inspections were complete.
Ryan’s insurance carrier arranged temporary housing while the claim was evaluated.
Claire refused another hotel.
Sophie cried whenever someone opened the hallway ice machine because the mechanical groan reminded her of the burning ceiling.
They rented a furnished townhouse near Percy Warner Park instead.
Ryan hated leaving the mansion.
Claire hated that he hated it.
“It almost killed our daughter,” she said while unpacking.
“It’s still our home.”
“It’s a building.”
Ryan looked at her.
Claire stopped.
They were both exhausted.
Neither apologized.
Two days later, Claire remembered something.
“Last winter.”
Ryan looked up.
“What?”
“The lights in the sunroom kept flickering.”
Ryan vaguely remembered.
Claire had asked Linda about it.
Linda told her antique fixtures did that when bulbs were loose.
Then there had been the smell.
A faint burned-plastic odor near the west hallway.
Claire had mentioned it during dinner.
Linda opened a window and blamed a space heater used by a cleaner.
Ryan had accepted the explanation.
Now he felt embarrassed remembering how quickly.
“You never called an electrician?” Claire asked.
“I thought Mom handled it.”
That sentence sounded worse aloud.
After Thomas died, Linda continued managing most maintenance because she knew every vendor who had worked on the house.
Ryan owned the property.
But he had given his mother access to a household maintenance account and permission to coordinate routine repairs.
He had never considered that dangerous.
Until now.
He called three electricians whose names appeared in old household statements.
The third remembered the property.
Very well.
Eighteen months earlier, his company had inspected the west wing.
The electrician paused when Ryan asked what they found.
“Mr. Callahan, we recommended that section be taken offline until major work was done.”
Ryan felt his stomach drop.
“Was my mother told?”
“She signed the service acknowledgment.”
Ryan sat down.
“Did you repair it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“The follow-up appointment was canceled.”
“By whom?”
Another pause.
“Linda Callahan.”
Ryan closed his eyes.
The electrician continued.
“We believed the circuit would remain disconnected.”
Ryan looked toward Claire.
She was watching him.
“Would remain?”
“Yes.”
Ryan’s voice dropped.
“What do you mean?”
The electrician answered carefully.
“When our technician left, power to that unsafe section had been shut down.”
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Ryan stared at the wall.
The sunroom had been fully powered ever since.
