Margaret handed her the tea. “Still worth it?” Eleanor took one sip and stared at the frosting stain. “Ask me after I speak to my lawyer.”
Margaret smiled despite herself. There it was—the Eleanor everyone in the family knew. Not reckless. Not sentimental.
Not entirely reasonable either, but already converting chaos into categories. The following morning Eleanor called Rebecca Shaw, the attorney who had handled Richard’s estate six years earlier and had since become both legal counsel and an occasional dinner companion. Rebecca listened without interrupting while Eleanor described the cake, the bag, the police, and the exact wording of the final exchange. Then there was a silence long enough to become judgment.
“You put a Gucci bag into a gas fire pit,” Rebecca said. “Yes.” “Intentionally.” “Yes.”
“At your own birthday party.” “That part is not legally relevant.” Rebecca exhaled. “I’m going to need you to be slightly less like yourself for five minutes.”
Eleanor sat at the kitchen island with black coffee and a legal pad. “Proceed.” Rebecca explained the obvious first. Sloan could pursue restitution for the damaged handbag and contents if she could document ownership and value.
The county attorney might choose to treat the matter as misdemeanor criminal damage depending on local thresholds and evidence. The intentional destruction of the cake complicated Sloan’s position but did not cancel Eleanor’s conduct. “I am not interested in pretending I didn’t do it,” Eleanor said. “Good.”
“Because approximately thirty witnesses and a patio camera say you did.” Eleanor paused. “The patio camera recorded it?” “Please tell me you knew you had a patio camera.”