“After you took the watch from it.”

Her face hardened.

“He wanders around touching things.”

Charles spoke.

“That is not an answer.”

I had never heard that tone from him.

He was usually a gentle man who could discuss a painting for twenty minutes without raising his voice.

Now he looked at Bianca as though she had insulted something more important than an heirloom.

Patrick shifted.

“It was an accident.”

“Yes,” I said.

He looked relieved.

Then I continued.

“You dropping it was an accident. Letting a child take responsibility was not.”

He glanced at his sister.

“She said she would handle it.”

Bianca turned toward him.

“Patrick.”

I looked between them.

There it was.

The arrangement beneath the accusation.

Something had gone wrong.

Patrick expected Bianca to manage the people around it.

Bianca expected Oliver to be the easiest person to move.

I asked why she placed the watch near the stairs.

She said she hadn’t wanted anyone stepping on loose pieces.

“Then why leave it on the floor?”

She said nothing.

Maria looked down.

The photographs had captured part of the story.

The silence supplied the rest.

Charles asked for the pieces to be collected carefully.

I brought a shallow box.

We did not attempt to force the case together.

He gathered the damaged watch, the hinge fragment, and the visible pieces of glass.

Patrick offered to pay.

Charles looked at him.

“I expect you to take responsibility. That includes telling me what happened before offering money.”

Patrick nodded.

Then, finally, he apologized.

A real apology.

He had handled something without permission.

He had been careless.

He had allowed Oliver to be accused.

No reference to how expensive the watch was.

No complaint that photographs made the matter look worse.

Charles accepted the words without saying everything was fine.

Then he turned to Bianca.

She remained silent.