Chapter 6 - The Blue Box
“Keep her there.”
Lorenzo ended the call.
Elena caught his sleeve.
“Don’t tell her about the key.”
“I won’t.”
“I mean it.”
He looked at her hand until she let go.
Then he stepped back.
“I heard you.”
Twenty minutes later, Vivien met him outside his mother’s rooms wearing a cream sweater and an expression of wounded patience.
“Your guard practically detained me.”
“What were you doing?”
“Finding Teresa’s earrings.”
“At eleven at night?”
“She asked.”
Lorenzo glanced past her.
His mother sat in bed, watching them.
“Did she?”
Vivien’s smile tightened.
“Don’t start treating me like the help because you’ve had a difficult evening.”
There it was.
The voice behind the door, dressed for company.
“Go downstairs,” he said.
“Lorenzo—”
“Please.”
The politeness unsettled her more than shouting would have.
After she left, he closed the door.
The sewing box sat beneath the window. Its brass lock showed fresh scratches.
Teresa watched him pick it up.
“Elena has the key.”
His mother nodded.
“Is there something in here you want me to see?”
“Yes.”
He could have broken the lock.
Instead, he brought the box to the study and called Elena.
She listened without interrupting.
Then she said, “Send it to a lawyer.”
“Which lawyer?”
“One who doesn’t work for you.”
He knew exactly whom she meant, though she didn’t know her name.
Nora Bell had spent eight years turning down his requests to handle problems quietly. She represented his mother in matters involving property and estate planning.
At midnight, Nora arrived carrying a raincoat and no patience.
“If this is another tax dispute—”
“It isn’t.”
Elena joined by video from an unmarked room.
She held up the key.
Nora explained how she would arrange its delivery in the morning.
Until then, the box would stay sealed with her.
Lorenzo agreed.
Nora looked almost disappointed that she wouldn’t need to fight him.
Then Rocco entered with Elena’s recovered phone.
“Found it in Vivien’s dressing room.”
“Was it accessed?”
“Yes. Messages deleted. Location sharing turned on.”
Elena looked away from the screen.
Nora’s voice sharpened.
“Preserve it. Don’t let anyone start poking through it.”
Rocco set it down.
There was one more item in his hand.
A printed email from the estate office.
It concerned Elena’s immediate dismissal.
The stated reason was theft.
Attached was a photograph of Vivien’s missing sapphire bracelet.
Elena stared at it.
“That’s impossible.”
May you like
Lorenzo already knew what she would say.
The bracelet had been photographed inside Mia’s little backpack.
