Chapter 6 - THE BAG
“That’s my bag,” Daniel said.
He was out of the office before I could answer.
I followed him into the hallway.
Mr. Hale came behind us.
“Daniel. Don’t touch him. Ask for the bag in front of witnesses.”
Eric stood near the ballroom entrance, talking to Vanessa.
He saw Daniel and smiled.
“Hey. Finally ready?”
“Why do you have my laptop?”
Eric glanced down.
“You left it in the prep room. I was keeping it safe.”
“Give it to me.”
“Sure.”
But he didn’t move.
Vanessa looked me up and down.
“That’s the better dress?”
“Yes.”
“Cute. Very courthouse.”
Daniel held out his hand.
“The bag.”
Eric’s smile thinned.
“Let’s talk somewhere private.”
“No.”
Nearby guests stopped talking.
Vanessa noticed immediately.
“Daniel, you’re making a scene.”
He looked at her.
“You brought glue to my wedding.”
Her face tightened.
“It was a joke.”
“Give me the bag, Eric.”
This time Eric handed it over.
Daniel opened it.
Laptop.
Charger.
A folder.
Then he checked the small front pocket.
Empty.
“What’s missing?” I asked.
“My business security key.”
Eric shook his head.
“Maybe you left it at home.”
Daniel looked toward the prep room.
“I used it here this morning.”
Nora approached with a staff member named Marcus.
He had been arranging chairs outside when Eric entered the prep room.
“Did you see him take anything?” Mr. Hale asked.
Marcus hesitated.
Eric gave him a hard look.
“Be careful what you say.”
Nora stepped closer to Marcus.
“Tell us what you saw.”
“He took something out of the front pocket,” Marcus said. “Small. Black. I thought it was his.”
Daniel held out his hand again.
Eric stopped smiling.
Vanessa reached for her husband’s sleeve.
“Just give it back.”
The sentence landed between us.
Daniel looked at her.
“Then you know he has it.”
Eric pulled the key from his jacket and placed it in Daniel’s palm.
“I borrowed it.”
Daniel handed his laptop to his accountant, who had joined us from the ballroom.
“Check the access logs.”
Eric moved toward the side door.
Mr. Hale didn’t block him.
He simply said, “The police have been called about the dress and the documents. You should stay available.”
Vanessa looked at me.
For the first time that day, she looked uncertain.
Then Daniel’s accountant opened the laptop.
“There was a transfer scheduled nineteen minutes ago,” he said.
“How much?”
May you like
He turned the screen around.
Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
