Chapter 5 - The Secret in the Clasp
Detective Ruiz returned to the estate before sunrise.
Arthur placed Evelyn’s journal on the desk in front of her.
She read every entry twice.
“Do you recognize Blackridge Holdings?” she asked.
“No.”
“What about Gabriel Vance?”
“He is my cousin.”
“Where is he now?”
“Singapore, supposedly.”
Ruiz raised an eyebrow.
“Supposedly?”
“He travels constantly.”
“Convenient.”
Arthur rubbed his eyes.
“Gabriel managed the foundation accounts after my father died.”
“And Eleanor?”
“She chaired the board.”
Ruiz closed the journal.
“If your wife discovered fraudulent transfers, we may be looking at financial crimes connected to her death.”
“You think the accident was murder.”
“I think we reopen the accident investigation before drawing conclusions.”
Arthur looked toward the evidence bag containing the necklace.
“Evelyn wrote that the necklace was a key.”
Ruiz lifted the bag carefully.
The necklace consisted of forty-eight diamonds arranged around an antique platinum chain.
A large pear-shaped stone hung from the center.
“Did it open anything?” she asked.
“Not that I know of.”
“Could the phrase be symbolic?”
“Evelyn was precise.”
Arthur studied the clasp.
“She never wore it.”
“Why?”
“My mother said it was too valuable.”
Ruiz’s mouth tightened.
“Your mother appears to have said many things.”
They took the necklace to a private jeweler who had worked with the Vance family for years.
Samuel Reed examined the clasp beneath a magnifying lens.
“This has been altered,” he said.
“When?” Arthur asked.
“Not recently.”
Reed rotated the necklace.
“The original clasp would have been solid platinum.”
He pressed a nearly invisible indentation with a fine instrument.
A compartment opened.
Inside was a tiny memory card.
Arthur felt the room tilt.
Reed stepped back.
“I believe this belongs to you.”
Detective Ruiz placed the card in an evidence sleeve.
They returned to the estate and used an isolated computer to examine it.
The card contained three folders.
FOUNDATION.
GARAGE.
FOR ARTHUR.
The foundation folder held copies of bank records, internal messages, and photographs of signed documents.
Millions of dollars had been transferred from the Vance Children’s Foundation into shell corporations.
Many bore Evelyn’s electronic signature.
Every signature was forged.
The garage folder contained a short video recorded through an upstairs window.
The image was dark and grainy.
A man wearing a security jacket stood beside Evelyn’s car.
His back was turned.
He leaned beneath the vehicle for several minutes before leaving.
As he crossed the driveway, his face became visible.
Victor Hale.
The Vance family attorney.
Arthur sat back in disbelief.
“Victor handled Evelyn’s estate.”
Ruiz paused the image.
“And he appears to have been near her car hours before she died.”
Arthur opened the final folder.
A single video file appeared.
Evelyn’s face filled the screen.
She was sitting inside the music room, wearing the pale blue sweater Arthur remembered from their final breakfast together.
Her eyes were tired.
Her voice was steady.
“Arthur, if you are watching this, then either I was wrong about your family or I did not survive long enough to prove I was right.”
Arthur stopped breathing.
Clara stood silently behind him.
Evelyn continued.
“The foundation has been used to move money for years.”
“Your mother approved the transfers.”
“Gabriel created the companies.”
“Victor forged the legal records.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
“I wanted to tell you directly, but Eleanor threatened to use my medical history against me.”
“She said she would convince a court that I was unstable and take the boys.”
Clara covered her mouth.
Evelyn looked away from the camera.
“There is something worse.”
The video glitched.
Several seconds of sound vanished.
When the picture returned, Evelyn was crying.
“Your father did not die from heart failure.”
Arthur’s eyes opened.
“He discovered the missing money twelve years ago.”
“Eleanor stopped him before he could expose it.”
The file suddenly ended.
Arthur stared at the blank screen.
“My father died in his sleep.”
Ruiz leaned forward.
“Was there an autopsy?”
“No.”
“Who signed the death certificate?”
“Our family physician.”
“Is he still alive?”
Arthur shook his head.
“He died last year.”
Ruiz removed the card from the computer.
“This evidence is enough for warrants.”
“For Eleanor?”
“For the financial records first.”
Ruiz looked toward the hallway.
“Your mother will know we discovered the card once the necklace is examined.”
“She already knew it was inside.”
Clara spoke for the first time.
“That is why she planted the necklace.”
Arthur turned to her.
“She wanted the police to take it into evidence.”
Clara nodded.
“She could arrange for it to disappear later.”
Detective Ruiz’s phone rang.
She answered and listened silently.
Her expression changed.
“What happened?” Arthur asked.
Ruiz ended the call.
“My officers went to the guest residence to speak with your mother.”
Arthur stood.
“And?”
“She is gone.”
“That is impossible.”
“The driver says she left through the rear garden before dawn.”
Ruiz reached for her coat.
“There is more.”
She showed Arthur a photograph sent by the officer.
On the bed inside Eleanor’s room lay a single sheet of paper.
The message had been written by hand.
ARTHUR, I AM GOING TO CORRECT THE MISTAKE EVELYN MADE.
May you like
Beneath the sentence were two words.
THE BOYS.
