"Yes." Manny heaved a breath but didn't move from his position by the door. "I feel so awful about it. I heard what I thought was a scream but since no one called for help and I didn't hear anything else, I ignored it. I was cutting some marble for the kitchen and I didn't want to stop for fear of breaking it. It only occurred to me later, when I finished cutting, that maybe I should check just in case, so I sent David out to take a look. He found her, lying right there." He pointed to a section of the floor several feet from the bottom step of the staircase. "I came as soon as he shouted to me."
"Where was the banister in relation to Sophie’s body?" I asked pointing to the piece I just handled.
"Underneath her. She was holding onto it like this," he said, holding up his hands and curling his fingers.
"Lying on her front or her back?"
"Her front. She was face down."
"Did you move her at all?"
"No! I didn't dare to. I checked to see if she was breathing but I thought she might have broken her neck or her back. I called 911 and held her hand until they got here. Did I do something wrong?"
"No, that was a very smart decision. You didn't know what injuries she had and if you moved her, you could have caused even more damage."
"I should have done something earlier when I thought I heard the scream. She must have been lying there for a long time."
"I'm going to take a look upstairs," I replied, eager to change the subject. I was pretty certain that no matter what platitude I came up with, Manny couldn't truly banish his guilt for not getting to her sooner.
"Please be careful where you step and stay away from the edge," he said.
I walked up, taking each stair slowly, scanning the tops and risers for any signs of blood. Several of the stairs were dusty and some were strangely clean but I couldn't see any droplets of the blood Austen claimed he saw. When I reached the top, I walked across the landing and dropped to my hands and knees before crawling to the edge. I wasn't ready to take any chance of tumbling over. I inspected the joins of the banister, noting that all the screws were tight, except those that previously held the missing piece in place.
"That banister was badly installed," called Manny. "I told Austen and Sophie it had to be replaced as soon as possible."
"Did you warn both of them it was dangerous?" I asked, looking down at him from my vantage point on my belly. The idea of falling so far made my stomach roil.
Manny shook his head. "It wasn't loose or dangerous, just not up to code. I told them it needed replacing before the whole thing came crashing down."
"Was that a real possibility?"
"All the joins were put in wrong and so were the anchor points. I considered it a real possibility and it's my job as foreman to keep everyone safe, especially when the homeowners choose to remain on the property during renovation."
"Would Sophie have any cause to unscrew this section?"
"None. She liked to know what we were doing and sometimes asked one of the crew to show her how to do something but she wouldn't take on a complicated job like that. For one thing, we need scaffolding in place just to take it out and put in the new one. The new one won’t even arrive for another three weeks."
"Doesn't that strike you as strange?"
"Damn strange," said Manny.
I started to shuffle back from the edge before I looked down. The spot where Manny said he found Sophie seemed a little too far from my current viewpoint. I could imagine Sophie falling directly forwards, maybe even further out than right underneath the landing, but so far out and toward the left? Could the momentum of her fall have possibly carried her that distance? I wasn't sure. I shuffled back until my feet touched the wall and got up, hugging the wall as I walked back down. "I don't see any footprints going up here," I said, realizing I left a trail of my own on the dusty steps.
"We've only been working in the back of the house so far but the dust travels no matter how much we try to contain it. No one went upstairs except Sophie and Austen and their guests. Austen is the only one who has been here in a week."
I stopped a few steps from the bottom and turned around. The clean stairs niggled at me. What was the significance of the occasional clean step? Why not clean all of them? I stooped for a closer look and suddenly caught a scent. It was very faint but it was definitely there. Someone must’ve used bleach.
"Have you or anyone else cleaned these stairs recently?" I asked.
"No, we won't do that until the new banister is installed and the carpet laid. There's no point in cleaning the stairs when they'll only get dirty again tomorrow. Can I ask what you're looking for, Ms... uh... Lexi?"
"Just checking out some things," I told him, evading the question.
"If Austen wants it all cleaned up before he brings Sophie home, I can do that. He told us to stop work for a few days but I can call my whole crew back and get everyone started again, if that's what he wants?"
"I'm sure it's okay to keep doing whatever he told you for now," I said. "I'm going to take a few photos and then I'm done." I pulled my phone out and took a short video of the entryway as well as some pictures. When I tucked it away, I walked over to Manny. "Thanks for taking the time to meet me."
"Anything for Austen and Sophie. They're a nice couple. Really good folks to work for."
"Have you worked for them a long time?"
"Many times for Austen. I used to be a police officer in Mexico. Construction here has a higher life expectancy." He gave me a rueful grin that added even more charm to his rugged face. "Thanks to Austen, I can give my family a good life in this country."
He pulled the door closed behind us and locked it. "You can call me anytime if you want to stop by again. I'm not sure what Austen has you doing but it seems urgent to him and I also know he thinks there's something suspicious about Sophie's fall."
"What do you think?" I asked.
"It's troubling me," he said after a long pause. "Plus, the more I analyze it, how could her head be injured at the back when she landed on her front?"
I agreed that was a very good question and we shook hands. We both got into our vehicles and just as I was about to start the ignition, my cellphone rang.
"Hey," I said, lightness filling me as I heard Solomon's voice.
"I know you took off for the day but I need a favor," he said. "Can you come by the office?"
"Sure. What's up?"
"A client just paid me in cash and I don't want to leave it in the safe. I need to meet another client right away; otherwise I'd take it to the bank myself."
"I'll take it there on my way home," I said. "I'm in Bedford Hills so I won't be too long."
"I'll wait in the parking lot so you can just grab it and go. What are you doing in Bedford Hills?"
"I'll explain later. Love you."
"Love you more."
I started the engine and just as I pulled out, stomped on the brake. The shiny, new truck barreled past me and burned rubber out the driveway with a squeal of tires. I glanced at Manny but he was shaking his head. "Who was that?" I asked, pulling alongside him.