The Diamond in the Toolbox
Chapter 09 - The Diamond in the Toolbox
Lena was brought back to Vale House in the rear seat of a patrol car.
The deputy did not handcuff her, but Meredith watched from the top of the steps as though chains would have improved the picture.
The diamond brooch sat inside a clear evidence pouch.
I recognized it. Meredith had worn it at my father’s funeral.
“Where was it found?” I asked.
“In a toolbox in Ms. Hart’s vehicle.”
Lena stared at the brooch.
“I’ve never seen it before.”
Meredith descended slowly.
“First the key. Then private papers. Now jewelry.”
“You threw wine on the floor to make me kneel,” Lena said. “Why should anyone believe your version of anything?”
The deputy shifted uncomfortably.
Meredith placed one hand against her chest. “I will not be abused in my own home.”
I almost admired the precision. She had turned accusation into injury before anyone could inspect the facts.
“Lena’s car left the property,” I said. “Where did you find her?”
“At the Hart residence.”
“Was the vehicle locked?”
“Yes.”
“Any sign of forced entry?”
“No.”
Meredith gave a small laugh. “Because she put it there.”
Lena looked at me.
She did not plead.
That made the doubt worse.
She had entered the house under false pretenses. She had concealed her profession. She had come searching for something she could not name.
But the brooch was too convenient. It appeared exactly when Meredith needed to destroy the staff’s trust in her.
“Who reported it missing?” I asked.
“Mrs. Vale.”
“What time?”
The deputy checked his notes. “Three forty-five.”
Lena had left Vale House at three twenty.
The photograph of Rose at the bank had been placed on the kitchen table shortly after five.
Meredith claimed to have noticed the brooch missing before she confronted Lena about the debt, yet she had not mentioned it in front of eight witnesses.
“Does the house still have exterior cameras?” I asked.
Meredith answered before the deputy.
“They have not worked in months.”
Nora appeared from the corridor.
“The front cameras don’t,” she said. “The service gate camera does.”
Meredith turned.
Nora continued. “Mr. Charles had it installed after fuel went missing. It records to the old caretaker’s computer.”
We went to the basement office.
The footage showed Lena’s blue hatchback leaving at three twenty-two. Nine minutes later, Meredith’s black sedan passed through the service gate.
Meredith was driving.
She returned twelve minutes later.
“That proves nothing,” she said. “I took a private drive.”
“In the direction of Rose’s house?” I asked.
The deputy’s expression changed.
Meredith folded her arms. “I want my attorney.”
Elias stood behind her.
“I am no longer able to represent you in this matter.”
She stared at him.
The deputy took the evidence pouch and asked Meredith to accompany him for a formal statement. He did not arrest her, but the humiliation of being questioned in front of her staff struck deeper than handcuffs might have.
Before leaving, Meredith approached Lena.
“You think they’ve chosen you,” she whispered. “Wait until they learn what Rose signed.”
After the patrol cars departed, Lena opened the loan photograph on her phone and enlarged it.
In the reflection of the bank window stood my father.
May you like
He had been present when Rose signed the mysterious debt.
And he was holding the same black briefcase Meredith had tried to burn.
