Chapter 2 - THE EMPTY VELVET CASE
Grant Mercer stared at Sophie as if the seven-year-old girl had pointed a loaded weapon at him.
He forced a laugh.
“That’s ridiculous.”
Sophie moved closer to Vincent.
“I saw you.”
Grant shook his head.
“No, sweetheart.”
“I did.”
Preston stepped forward.
“She’s confused.”
Sophie looked at her father.
“No.”
There was something about the way she said it that silenced him.
Evelyn knew her daughter.
Sophie could become shy around strangers.
She sometimes mixed up names when she was nervous.
But when Sophie remembered a picture in her mind, she remembered everything.
“What exactly did you see?” Evelyn asked.
Sophie swallowed.
“I went upstairs because I couldn’t find you.”
Diane interrupted.
“She wasn’t supposed to be upstairs.”
Evelyn ignored her.
Sophie continued.
“The room with the big mirror was open.”
“The bridal suite?” Celeste asked.
Sophie nodded.
“Grandma Diane was inside.”
Diane’s face changed.
Just slightly.
“Then Uncle Grant came in.”
Grant looked toward Preston.
Sophie continued.
“He had the blue box.”
“The necklace box?” Vincent asked.
“I don’t know.”
She held her hands about six inches apart.
“It was this big.”
Celeste looked toward Diane.
“The case was blue velvet.”
Diane folded her arms.
“That proves nothing.”
Sophie frowned.
“I heard Grandma say, ‘Nobody can know until after he signs it.’”
Silence spread through the room again.
Preston’s head snapped toward Diane.
Evelyn noticed.
That reaction was different.
He had expected the accusation about the necklace.
He had not expected those words.
Vincent noticed that too.
“Signs what?”
Diane recovered quickly.
“She misunderstood.”
Sophie shook her head.
“You said it.”
“Sophie.”
Diane’s tone sharpened.
“You’re mistaken.”
Sophie flinched.
Vincent immediately stepped between them.
“Do not speak to her like that.”
Diane laughed without humor.
“You don’t get to give orders in my son’s wedding.”
“No.”
Vincent looked around the room.
“But I do get to decide whether my family stays.”
He turned toward Evelyn.
“We’re leaving.”
Preston moved toward them.
“You’re not going anywhere until that necklace is found.”
Vincent faced him.
“Are you accusing my granddaughter of theft?”
“I’m saying the necklace disappeared after she went upstairs.”
“Then call the police.”
Preston’s confidence faltered.
Vincent waited.
“Call them.”
Diane looked alarmed.
“That’s unnecessary.”
Vincent’s eyes narrowed.
“Interesting.”
He reached into his jacket.
Several guests stiffened.
Vincent removed only his phone.
He dialed.
Preston grabbed his wrist.
“Don’t.”
The word came too quickly.
Too urgently.
Vincent slowly looked at Preston’s hand again.
Preston released him.
“You don’t need police turning my wedding into a circus.”
Vincent stared at him.
“You threw a seven-year-old child onto the floor in front of two hundred people.”
His voice remained controlled.
“You turned it into a circus.”
Celeste finally walked forward.
Her wedding dress whispered against the marble.
“Preston.”
He turned.
She looked at him as if seeing him from a distance.
“Why don’t you want the police involved?”
Preston’s jaw tightened.
“That isn’t what I said.”
“It sounded like it.”
Diane stepped between them.
“Celeste, not tonight.”
Celeste did not move.
“Especially tonight.”
Grant backed toward the service hallway.
Vincent noticed.
So did one of the men standing near the reception table.
Marco Bellini had worked beside Vincent for almost thirty years.
He did not need instructions.
Marco moved quietly toward the hallway entrance.
Grant stopped.
Vincent called the police.
Then he called the private security company responsible for the ballroom.
“I want every camera secured.”
Preston scoffed.
“They belong to the hotel.”
“Then the hotel can secure them.”
The security manager arrived four minutes later.
His name was Richard Cole.
He was sweating before anyone had even explained the problem.
Vincent noticed that too.
“We need the footage from the bridal corridor.”
Richard swallowed.
“There may be a problem.”
Preston looked away.
Evelyn felt something cold move through her stomach.
“What problem?”
Richard cleared his throat.
“The cameras on the twelfth floor went offline tonight.”
“When?”
Vincent asked.
Richard looked at his tablet.
“Seven thirty-two.”
Celeste went pale.
The necklace had last been seen at seven twenty-eight.
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And Sophie had entered the corridor at seven thirty-four.
Four minutes after the cameras went dark.
