Chapter 8 - The Necklace DisappearsAt 11:47 p.m., the alarm at the Hawthorne Gallery went off.
The display case was open.
The necklace was gone.
Security footage showed someone entering with an access card.
The card belonged to Claire Morgan.
At six in the morning, two detectives knocked on her door.
“Ms. Morgan, we need to ask you some questions.”
Claire was horrified.
“I was home.”
But when they searched her car, they found something beneath the seat.
A black bag.
Inside was the necklace.
Claire felt the ground disappear beneath her feet.
“I didn’t put that there.”
The detectives exchanged glances.
The story immediately spread online.
ALLEGED HEIRESS STEALS TWENTY-MILLION-DOLLAR NECKLACE.
Charles issued a statement.
“I always believed this woman was after money.”
Claire watched the interview from an interrogation room.
“He’s framing me.”
Her attorney told her to remain calm.
Hours later, Victoria appeared.
“I know you didn’t do it.”
“How?”
“Because they made a mistake.”
She took out her phone.
The gallery’s main camera showed someone using Claire’s access card.
But a camera from a building across the street had captured the emergency exit.
A man walked out at 11:54.
He wore a cap and a coat.
Victoria froze the image.
“Look at his hand.”
A large ring with a blue stone.
Claire recognized it.
“Who is that?”
Victoria answered:
“Marcus Reed. My father’s personal head of security.”
Police searched his house.
They found forty thousand dollars in cash.
And messages from Charles.
One of them said:
Make sure they find it in her car.
The charges against Claire were dropped.
Marcus was arrested.
And Charles lost his final chance to defend himself.
But when Claire received the necklace back, she felt no joy.
She held it in her hands.
That jewel had destroyed relationships across three generations.
“I don’t want it,” she whispered.
Victoria looked surprised.
“It’s worth twenty million.”
May you like
Claire closed the box.
“Exactly.”
