Melanie might have brought up points of curiosity in passing without considering the possibility of chicanery, but Alejandro brought that under focus. If the lighting accident was manufactured, then who could have been behind it? What could their goal be?
Was it… to kill Mark Tremont?
Melanie drew in a sharp breath. “Alex, listen to me. You can bicker with him all you want, but he’s still your brother. You better not just stand there and not help.”
Alejandro furrowed his eyebrows. “And I’ve started seeing him as my brother since when, exactly? If the man himself isn’t worried, then why the hell should I be? I’m not in a hurry to brownnose him. Besides, the one who got hurt is his aunt, so he’s probably already onto the whole thing already, right? Hell, I bet they’ve concluded it as nothing more than an accident. And what if it really was just some freak accident, huh? It’s a thing that happened like what, a while ago or whatever. Who’s into reopening a case?… If you’re so worried about it, then call Arianne and caution her or something.”
Melanie immediately pulled out her phone and began her call. She did not launch straight into her concern—opting to preface it with small talks—before feigning a casual tone when asking, “So, how’s Mark’s aunt doing so far?”
Arianne hid in an empty corner before answering, “Her right leg’s busted. Doctor said it might be permanent, too, but at least nothing else was harmed.”
Melanie spied Alejandro in the periphery and continued, “Why do you think the light fell off the ceiling? Tremont Enterprise always picks the same few venues for its shows, right? And people usually don’t change the lights in a runway frequently, too, which means it should be very secured in its place. You… don’t think this might be a mite too suspicious? Did Mark investigate it? Was it an accident?”
The incident had happened for quite a while by now, but Arianne had never considered it in any particular direction before. “Yeah, I think that’s the conclusion. What else could it be? Sabotage?”
Perhaps it was time she asked.
As soon as Mark returned to their bedroom, Arianne pulled him aside. “Hey, uh, what happened after Aunt Shelly’s accident?”
Mentioning the incident was a surefire way to lock Mark’s furrowed eyebrows into place. “Why ask? Of course, it was an accident. What other verdicts could there be? The venue is owned by Tremont Enterprise, which means the guy in charge is me. Get it? Had it belonged to a third party, this whole thing would have ended with an exorbitant amount of medical fees on top of compensation for that accident. Since the person injured was Aunt Shelly, though, things were resolved in a pretty straightforward manner—free from annoying squabbles and such, at least.”
Arianne cast her question in the hopes that he caught on, “And have you tried, well, checking if it really was an innocent accident? From what I heard, stuff like lights don’t fall off their spots all of a sudden. Since the venue belongs to you, there’s even less reason for you to cut cost in furnishing and maintenance, right? Everything’s gotta be the best—be it the quality of the lights or the outfitting for the shows. So why was it faulty? Look at the lights in our home. It’s been years since we’ve touched them, but none of them have shown signs of falling off or anything. You don’t find this whole thing a bit strange at all?”
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