Chapter 2 - Nobody Leaves With Her
“I didn’t recognize anything.”
Sarah answered too fast.
“I recognized a cheap trick.”
Daniel remained beside the foyer doors.
He hadn’t locked them.
He didn’t need to.
The guests were suddenly more interested in leaving than watching.
“Please clear the room,” I told him. “Anyone who saw what happened can speak to the officers when they arrive.”
Sarah lowered the diamonds.
“You’re embarrassing me.”
Emily made a small sound behind me.
Not quite a laugh.
More like disbelief.
I turned.
She was stuffing her clothes back into the duffel.
A gray sweater.
A paperback with a broken spine.
A pharmacy receipt.
All the ordinary belongings Sarah had dragged into the middle of our party.
“Emily, you don’t have to leave.”
She kept packing.
“You told me to open it.”
The words landed harder than a shout.
“Yes,” I said. “I did.”
“You looked at me like everyone else.”
I had no answer that would make that untrue.
I crouched, leaving enough space between us.
“I was wrong.”
Her hands stopped.
“I want to understand the locket. But first, you deserve someone here who’s on your side.”
“Our attorney is on his way,” Sarah said.
“Our attorney represents us.”
I took out my phone and called a lawyer I knew through a housing nonprofit.
“Maya Ellis. I need independent counsel for someone accused of theft. Someone employed in my home.”
Sarah stared at me.
I gave Maya the address.
Then I asked Emily, “Would you like to speak to her?”
After a moment, she nodded.
We moved into the library.
Emily chose the chair nearest the door.
I placed the locket on the table between us.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-two.”
The answer cut through my hope.
My daughter would be eighteen.
Emily saw my face change.
“I know my own age.”
“I’m sorry. I’m trying to understand.”
“Ruth said my early records were lost. She got replacements when we moved.”
“Do you have them?”
“In my room.”
Before I could answer, Sarah appeared in the doorway with Victor Hale.
Our family attorney.
He had handled Clara’s estate.
He had also handled the hospital settlement after the fire.
“James,” Victor said, “we need to avoid a scene.”
“A little late.”
His eyes dropped to the locket.
For half a second, his expression emptied.
Then he smiled.
“Sentimental resemblance can be powerful.”
I looked at him.
“I haven’t told you what’s inside.”
Silence settled between us.
From the hallway, Daniel called my name.
He held a tablet.
On the screen was footage from the corridor outside Emily’s room.
May you like
Sarah stood at the door.
The time stamp was forty minutes before her necklace supposedly disappeared.
