Chapter 6 - The Bracelet in the Vault
Marcus found his mother at her Gold Coast apartment that evening.
Evelyn Hale opened the door wearing silk trousers, no makeup, and an expression he had never seen on her before.
Fear.
“Come in.”
Marcus walked past her.
Claire and Rachel waited downstairs.
He had decided he needed to speak to Evelyn alone.
On the living-room table lay the proxy she had signed.
Marcus picked it up.
“You gave Simon the right to vote twelve percent of Hale Meridian.”
“For thirty days.”
“That is enough to sell the Bellmere.”
“He told me the company needed stability.”
“You didn’t call me.”
“You were in police custody.”
“For defending your granddaughter after my wife assaulted her.”
“Stop saying defending as if the second slap was necessary.”
Marcus turned away.
The words landed because they were true.
The first strike might be argued as reflexive defense.
The second had been rage.
“I know what I did.”
“Do you?”
He looked back.
Evelyn’s eyes were wet.
“You have been angry for months. Since your father died. Since before that, really.”
“You signed a statement saying I intimidate people.”
“I said you raise your voice when you feel cornered.”
“And Bianca used it to call me dangerous.”
“I didn’t know.”
“No. You didn’t ask.”
That silenced them both.
Marcus set down the proxy.
“You’re right about one thing.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“I have been angry. And careless. I let Bianca handle things because I was tired of fighting Dad. I signed documents because I trusted her. I stopped asking questions.”
He gestured toward the proxy.
“You did the same thing with Simon.”
Evelyn sat.
Her shoulders sagged.
“I thought I was protecting what Richard built.”
“So did I.”
For a moment, they looked painfully alike.
Marcus took out a photograph Claire had sent him.
The bracelet Bianca wore at the wedding.
He placed it on the table.
“Why was this in Dad’s vault?”
Evelyn stared at the picture.
Her face changed.
“That was my mother’s.”
“I know.”
“She gave it to me when I turned sixteen.”
“Dad locked it in the Bellmere after the burglary attempt.”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever give it to Bianca?”
Evelyn’s head snapped up.
“Absolutely not.”
“Did Dad?”
“No.”
“Did Simon?”
“How would Simon have it?”
“That is what I’m trying to find out.”
Evelyn touched the photograph.
Inside the bracelet was the engraving bearing her name and the year 1958.
“I asked Richard for it two Christmases ago,” she whispered.
“What?”
“He said no.”
“Why?”
“He said the family vault was no longer just storage. He said certain objects had become markers.”
Marcus frowned.
“Markers?”
“He was being cryptic. He did that near the end.”
“Did he say anything else?”
Evelyn thought.
“He said if one of the inventoried pieces appeared outside the vault, he would know someone had access.”
Marcus stared.
The bracelet had been bait.
Richard had deliberately left recognizable valuables among the company records.
Bianca had taken one.
And then worn it publicly.
“She thought nobody would remember,” Marcus said.
Evelyn looked sick.
“I complimented her on it.”
“When?”
“Two months ago.”
Before Richard died.
Marcus went still.
“She had it before Dad died?”
“Yes.”
That altered the timeline.
Bianca had accessed the vault while Richard was alive.
Perhaps Richard discovered it.
Perhaps that was why he gave Emma the key.
Marcus stood.
“Mom, did you tell Dad you saw Bianca wearing it?”
Evelyn’s eyes widened.
“I think so.”
“When?”
“At his house. Maybe a week before he died.”
Marcus’s pulse accelerated.
“What did he say?”
“He asked me three times if I was certain.”
“And?”
“I got irritated. I thought he was confused from the medication.”
“What did he do?”
“He called someone.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Marcus took out his phone and called Claire.
“Did Dad speak to you about the bracelet before he died?”
Claire was quiet.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“April 12.”
Seven days before Richard died.
“What did he say?”
“That the trap had worked.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
“You didn’t think that was worth telling me?”
“He told me not to.”
“I’m getting tired of that answer.”
“I know.”
“What trap?”
“He had the vault inventory independently photographed in February. Every document, every object, every shelf.”
“Where are the photographs?”
“I don’t know.”
Marcus swore.
Evelyn looked toward the window.
“What exactly do you think Bianca was looking for?”
Marcus answered slowly.
“Evidence.”
“Of what?”
“Seventy-two million dollars in hidden debt and eighteen point seven million in stolen funds.”
Evelyn went pale.
“You think Bianca stole that much?”
“Not alone.”
“Simon?”
“Yes.”
She covered her mouth.
Marcus reached for the proxy.
“I need you to revoke this.”
“I will.”
His phone rang.
Claire.
Her voice was urgent.
“Marcus, do not let Evelyn revoke anything yet.”
He frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Darius found the original security backup from February.”
“So?”
“It shows who entered the vault the night the bracelet disappeared.”
Marcus looked at his mother.
“Bianca?”
“No.”
Claire’s answer came quietly.
“Your mother.”
Marcus froze.
Evelyn stared back at him.
“What?”
He put the phone on speaker.
Claire repeated it.
“The footage shows Evelyn entering the vault at 11:43 p.m. on February 18.”
Evelyn stood so quickly the table shook.
“That’s impossible.”
Darius’s voice came onto the call.
“Mrs. Hale, the camera is clear.”
“I wasn’t there.”
“You used your private elevator code.”
“I said I wasn’t there!”
Marcus looked at the proxy.
At his mother.
At the photograph of the bracelet.
May you like
Then Evelyn whispered something that changed the room.
“My private code was the same code I gave Bianca when she started helping me after Richard became ill.”
