Empty Mansions

of the board, the shipbuilder Morton Hyman, who had been meeting with Huguette to seek her donations. Instead, the nurses sent them down the hall to the drab 3 Karpas.
    Carla and Ian spoke with the weekend nurse, Christie Ysit, who told them that Huguette was asleep. Carla asked to be able to give Huguette a blessing, and the nurse allowed them inside the darkened room. Carla and Ian stood at the foot of Huguette’s bed. The shades were drawn, but in the dim light they could see a small Christmas tree. They saw no machines, no artificial life support, nothing out of the ordinary—aside from their wealthy aunt asleep in this sparse room. Carla recalled, “She was sleeping peacefully in her bed.” They left after about a minute.
    In the hallway, nurse Christie told them that Huguette was alert, of normal mental and conversational ability, and healthy enough to walk without assistance. She said Huguette was in control of her affairs, knew of the family reunion, but didn’t want anyone to know she lived at the hospital. To find out anything more, she said, they’d have to come back the next day, when Hadassah would be there.
    The next day, Ian and Carla arrived at the room bearing flowers. They were met in the hallway by an angry and agitated Hadassah Peri, who insisted they leave immediately. They heard Huguette call out to Hadassah, asking something they couldn’t quite make out. Hadassah insisted they leave, and they did.
    Though they hadn’t talked with Huguette, Carla and Ian said they had succeeded in their mission. Ian wrote to the family:
    Our impression is that she is as healthy as can be expected for a 102-year-old. She seems to receive adequate care.… All in all, our impression was that Tante Huguette is well and, according to her caregiver, displays a level of mental and conversational ability that is normal for a woman her age.… The attendants seemed open, honest and reliable, and both care genuinely for Madame Clark.… After speaking with the attendants, we believe that Tante Huguette is mentally competent and capable of making her own decisions.… Huguette seems to have chosen on her own not to continue to have relationships with her relatives. She is comfortable with her attendants, her lawyer and accountant, and does not wish to be contacted by others.
    The nurse’s notes in the medical chart show that the night before the first visit, Huguette was “alert and very responsive.” After she heard about the visit, she was “agitated and not oriented to time” and kept asking if it was bedtime. Dr. Singman called in an order for Ambien, a sedative. Early the next morning, before the second visit, she again was disoriented and delusional (perhaps a side effect of the Ambien) and sat on the floor of her room while being helped to the bathroom, apparently thinking she had reached the bathroom.
    Hadassah wrote in the chart that Huguette called Suzanne Pierre twice after the visits “stating to respect her privacy and not to divulge any information to her family members which she never see these people in her entire life. It’s only now they are trying so hard to get too close to Madame which Madame was so upset about all their inquiries.”
    Hadassah and Huguette both called Bock to complain about the visits. “Telephone call from Mrs. Clark,” Bock’s logs show. “Make sure none of her money goes to any one in her family. Wants to make sure that Hadassah gets the $5 M she promised her.” Inside Huguette’s hospital room, the family visits weren’t seen as expressions of concern but as attempts to get her money.
    Bock sent Carla a stern warning to stay away from Huguette. “Neither she nor I understood your reasons in attempting to meet with her. Whatever the reasons she asks that it not be repeated either by you or any other ‘well meaning’ family members. If this conduct persists shehas instructed me to arrange with the hospital administration to have any further intruders removed by security.” Carla met with Bock, who tried to reassure her that Huguette was well cared for. In his office, Carla wrote out an apology to Huguette. Bock passed it on.
    Ian Devine reassured his cousins, “We need not apologize” for the visit. “It was motivated solely by love and concern for her well-being; it was our familial obligation to determine for ourselves her health and happiness.”
    A day later, Hadassah wrote in the chart that Huguette was relaxed, “in very good mood. Asking about