The Man My Husband Trusted
Chapter 05 - The Man My Husband Trusted
Victor Shaw arrived at Hart House that afternoon as if nothing had happened.
He was sixty-three, silver-haired, calm, and perfectly dressed.
He hugged Evelyn.
That bothered her more than anything.
“Michael said there was some confusion about an heirloom,” he said.
“Confusion?”
Victor sat comfortably in Richard’s old chair.
Evelyn remained standing.
“My necklace is missing.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“You knew what it was worth.”
“I advised Michael on an appraisal range. Nothing more.”
“You also handled my estate documents.”
Victor’s expression barely changed.
“Along with three attorneys and two accountants.”
He was good.
Richard used to say Victor could walk through a burning building without wrinkling his suit.
Evelyn had once considered that a compliment.
Now it sounded like a warning.
“Did you remove the necklace from the bank?”
“No.”
“Did you forge my signature?”
“No.”
“Did you place a replica in my safe?”
“No.”
Victor stood.
“Evelyn, grief can make people suspicious.”
Her hands went cold.
“Do not use my husband’s death to explain my intelligence.”
For the first time, his smile weakened.
He picked up his coat.
“Michael is in serious trouble. I’m offering him a way out.”
“By buying my property below market value?”
“By solving a family problem.”
“You sound as if you know my family better than I do.”
Victor paused at the doorway.
“Richard had problems you never knew about.”
Evelyn did not move.
“What does that mean?”
Victor studied her for a long second.
Then he said, “Ask yourself why your husband moved the necklace eighteen months ago.”
“I did not say he moved it.”
“No,” Victor replied. “You didn’t.”
He left.
Evelyn stood alone in the room.
Victor had made his first mistake.
The bank records did not say Richard moved the necklace.
Only that someone using Evelyn’s authorization had removed it after Richard died.
Yet Victor had spoken as though he knew the necklace had been moved deliberately.
That evening, Evelyn opened every drawer in Richard’s desk.
At the back of the lowest drawer, taped beneath a false panel, she found a narrow envelope.
Inside were twelve canceled checks.
Every one had been written by Richard.
Every one was payable to the same woman.
Rose Carter.
Evelyn had not spoken that name in thirty-one years.
May you like
Rose was her younger sister.
And according to the story their mother had told the entire family, Rose was the woman who had once tried to steal the emerald necklace.
