Chapter 9 - DIANE'S FIRST LIE
The police recovered the floral crate the following day.
It had been moved from the hotel to a warehouse owned by the wedding florist.
The necklace was not inside.
But investigators found something else.
A strip of blue velvet.
The same material used in the Hale necklace case.
They also found Preston’s fingerprint on the interior wood panel.
His attorney immediately argued that Preston had handled wedding decorations throughout the week.
Detective Alvarez expected that.
What she did not expect was the florist’s delivery driver.
His name was Omar Reyes.
He remembered the crate because a woman had stopped him in the hotel loading bay.
“She told me W-17 had been added by mistake.”
“Who?”
Omar looked at a photograph lineup.
He pointed.
Diane Hale.
“She told me to take it back to the warehouse.”
Detective Alvarez leaned forward.
“Did she touch the crate?”
“She opened it.”
“What did she remove?”
“A silver bag.”
“What kind?”
“Like those little insulated cosmetic bags.”
“Did you see inside?”
“No.”
“Did anyone come with her?”
Omar nodded.
“A man.”
He pointed to another photograph.
Grant Mercer.
Grant admitted it immediately.
He had followed Diane to the loading dock.
But according to Grant, he had not known what was inside the bag.
Diane had carried it away.
Where?
Grant did not know.
Diane denied everything.
Her attorney described Omar’s identification as unreliable.
Then hotel records created another problem for her.
At 8:02 p.m., Diane’s key card opened Room 1226.
The room was not hers.
It belonged to an elderly wedding guest named Margaret Lawson.
Margaret had attended the ceremony but became ill before dinner.
She had already gone home.
The hotel searched Room 1226.
The sapphire necklace was not there.
But inside the closet, behind an extra blanket, investigators found a disposable prepaid phone.
One number had been called repeatedly.
A number in Switzerland.
The calls began six weeks earlier.
The account connected to that number belonged to a financial intermediary named Anton Keller.
Keller was already under investigation in Europe for hiding assets.
When Detective Alvarez confronted Diane, she smiled.
“I’ve never heard of him.”
That became Diane’s first provable lie.
Because Keller’s personal number appeared in her own handwritten address book recovered from the Hale estate.
Beside it were three words.
OUR EXIT PLAN.
Preston began blaming his mother.
His attorney released a statement.
Mr. Hale had no knowledge of any improper financial activity conducted by other individuals.
Diane saw the statement on television.
Something in her expression changed.
For the first time, mother and son were no longer defending the same story.
Evelyn watched from Vincent’s penthouse.
Sophie was building a puzzle on the floor.
The news anchor showed Preston entering a courthouse.
Sophie looked up.
“Is Daddy going to say sorry?”
Evelyn muted the television.
“I don’t know.”
“Why not?”
“Because apologizing means admitting you hurt someone.”
Sophie placed another puzzle piece.
“He did hurt me.”
“Yes.”
“Then he knows.”
Evelyn stared at her daughter.
Children could make complicated things sound simple.
Maybe because sometimes they were.
Later that afternoon, a package arrived for Vincent.
No return address.
Inside was a photograph.
Diane.
Preston.
Grant.
And a fourth person.
They were standing outside Union Heritage Bank.
The photograph had been taken three months earlier.
On the back, someone had written one sentence.
ASK EVELYN WHO THE FOURTH MAN IS.
Vincent showed it to his daughter.
Evelyn looked.
Her face changed instantly.
“Who is he?” Vincent asked.
May you like
Evelyn whispered.
“My divorce attorney.”
