Chapter 4 - THE HOUSE WASN’T SAFE ANYMORE
I left Fashion Week through the service entrance.
Not because I was hiding.
Because if one more person asked me for a statement, I was going to say something I couldn’t take back.
Celeste came with me.
Naomi followed.
Adrian didn’t.
Security made sure of that.
In the car, I stared at the city lights.
My hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
Celeste touched my wrist.
“Do not go home alone.”
“I need clothes.”
“Send someone.”
“My documents are there.”
Naomi turned from the front seat.
“Which documents?”
“Estate papers. My mother’s trust. Old tax records.”
She and Celeste exchanged a look.
I hated that look.
“What?”
Naomi said, “If Adrian forged your signature once, assume he may have accessed anything he could use.”
My stomach dropped.
I called our housekeeper, Rosa.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then my phone rang.
Rosa.
I answered immediately.
“Rosa?”
Her voice was low.
“Mrs. Vale, are you with Mr. Vale?”
“No.”
A pause.
“Good.”
I sat straighter.
“What happened?”
“He came home an hour ago.”
“What?”
“He was angry. He went into your office.”
My heart started pounding.
“Is he still there?”
“No. He left.”
“Did he take anything?”
Another pause.
“I think so.”
“What?”
“A gray file box.”
My mother’s trust documents were in a gray fireproof file box.
I closed my eyes.
“Rosa, listen to me. Lock the doors. I’m calling security.”
“There’s something else.”
I opened my eyes.
“What?”
“He told me if anyone asked, you gave him permission.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know.”
Then Rosa whispered:
“Mrs. Vale… there’s a man in the backyard.”
The line went dead.
I was out of the car before it fully stopped.
“Claire!”
Celeste grabbed my arm.
Naomi was already calling 911.
“We’re not going in,” she said.
“That woman has worked for me twelve years.”
“And if somebody is inside?”
“She’s sixty-three years old!”
Police arrived seven minutes later.
It felt like an hour.
We waited across the street while officers entered.
One minute.
Two.
Three.
Then an officer came out.
“Ms. Vale?”
“Yes.”
“Your housekeeper is safe.”
My knees almost buckled.
“She locked herself in the pantry.”
“What about the man?”
“Gone.”
Inside, my office looked like a storm had passed through it.
Drawers open.
Papers everywhere.
The cabinet unlocked.
The gray box missing.
Rosa hugged me.
“I’m sorry.”
“You did nothing wrong.”
She pulled away.
“He knew the code.”
“Adrian?”
“No.”
I frowned.
“The other man.”
“What other man?”
“The one in the yard. He came through the back door after Mr. Vale left.”
A police officer looked up.
“You saw him?”
“Only from behind.”
“Did he take anything?”
Rosa nodded.
“A black folder from Mr. Vale’s study.”
I turned toward the hallway.
Adrian kept his office locked.
Always.
The police checked it.
Door open.
Safe empty.
One officer came out holding a torn piece of paper.
“Ms. Vale, does this mean anything to you?”
I took it.
It was half of a shipping receipt.
Destination:
GENEVA.
Insurance value:
$3,200,000.
Item description:
EMERALD AND DIAMOND NECKLACE — ESTATE COLLECTION.
I stared at it.
“That’s impossible.”
Celeste looked at me.
“What?”
I touched the necklace still in my purse.
“My mother’s necklace isn’t worth three million dollars.”
May you like
Naomi asked quietly:
“Are you sure the necklace you got back tonight is actually your mother’s?”
