Chapter 2 - THE ANONYMOUS WITNESS
Julian quickly covered the missing button with his hand.
“That proves nothing.”
Commissioner Cross studied him.
“Perhaps.”
He turned toward the guests.
“But the caller claimed the button fell off while someone placed the brooch inside the child’s backpack.”
A wave of whispers swept through the ballroom.
Lily pulled closer to Evelyn.
Eleanor forced a laugh.
“This is absurd.”
“This gala is filled with cameras.”
Nathaniel looked toward the glass domes positioned above the doors.
“Then reviewing the footage should be easy.”
Eleanor’s smile vanished.
“The ballroom cameras are for security purposes.”
“This is a security matter.”
Julian stepped forward.
“The child was caught with stolen property.”
Nathaniel glanced at him.
“The child is six.”
“And six-year-olds steal,” Julian snapped.
Evelyn’s jaw tightened.
“Not mine.”
Nathaniel raised one hand before the argument could continue.
“No one leaves the ballroom.”
Several guests protested immediately.
A city councilman demanded special treatment.
A real estate developer threatened to call the mayor.
Nathaniel ignored them all.
He ordered officers to close the doors.
The locks clicked.
Eleanor looked around nervously.
“This is my family’s event.”
Nathaniel faced her.
“And now it is my investigation.”
A security technician entered carrying a laptop.
He connected it to the ballroom’s projector.
The giant charity presentation disappeared from the wall.
A grid of security feeds appeared.
Nathaniel pointed toward the camera facing the coatroom corridor.
“Start fifteen minutes before the brooch was reported missing.”
The technician typed rapidly.
The footage began.
Guests watched themselves laughing beneath chandeliers.
Waiters moved between tables.
Children from the foundation’s shelter stood near the stage.
Lily appeared beside Evelyn.
She was holding a paper flower she had made for the auction.
Then Julian appeared in the corridor.
He removed something from his jacket.
The image blurred when another guest crossed in front of the camera.
When the view cleared, Julian was speaking to Eleanor.
Eleanor glanced toward Lily.
Then she made a small gesture with two fingers.
The footage suddenly froze.
The screen went black.
“What happened?” Nathaniel asked.
The technician typed again.
“This section has been deleted.”
A murmur spread through the room.
Eleanor folded her arms.
“Technical problems happen.”
Nathaniel looked at her sharply.
“Deleted files are not technical problems.”
Julian turned toward the technician.
“Restore them.”
“I can try.”
Before the technician could continue, every light in the ballroom went out.
Someone screamed.
Glass shattered in the darkness.
Evelyn dropped to her knees and pulled Lily against her chest.
“Stay with me.”
A pair of hands grabbed Evelyn from behind.
She drove her elbow backward.
The attacker grunted.
Then Lily screamed.
“Mommy!”
The emergency lights flickered on.
Evelyn spun around.
Lily was gone.
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The ballroom doors were still locked.
And the velvet jewelry box lay open on the floor beside a hidden service passage.
