Chapter 6 - THE HOUSEKEEPER WHO KEPT A NOTEBOOK
Her name was Diane Fields.
Fifty-eight.
House manager at the estate for nine years.
No secret loyalty.
No cinematic witness.
She kept a household notebook because Theresa changed instructions constantly.
Laundry.
Groceries.
Drivers.
Guest rooms.
Nora.
Diane wrote dates.
February 4:
Theresa says no dessert after Nora asks Audrey on tablet if she may have it.
February 11:
Nora crying after call. Theresa says “Stop making sick people solve your problems.”
February 17:
Nora’s school asks for replacement backpack. Theresa says wait until current tears completely.
February 21:
Audrey requests shoes.
February 24:
Gabriele transfers school allowance.
February 26:
Shoes delivered.
February 26:
Theresa says keep box in office until child stops asking.
Then:
March 1:
Nora told to sit beside dog kennel for refusing to end video call.
March 3:
Theresa asks me whether kennel latch locks. I said yes for animals.
That entry mattered.
Did Diane know Theresa intended to put Nora inside?
“No.”
Would she have stopped it?
“Yes.”
Was she present during the actual incident?
No.
She had gone to the grocery store.
The nanny was on a school pickup for another family child? Better keep household nanny maybe Sara Quinn had been sent to pharmacy. Why send away? Could be innocent. Theresa had asked the nanny to collect Audrey’s prescription.
No proof of calculated removal.
Still, Theresa was alone with Nora for twenty-five minutes.
Enough.
Then Diane showed me another note.
March 2:
Theresa says “If Audrey doesn’t survive this cycle, Nora stays here. Gabriele will not raise a girl alone.”
There.
May you like
Her plan was not only temporary.
She had decided the future before Audrey had.
