Chapter 3 - SEVEN MISSING MINUTES
Dominic’s face answered the question before his mouth did.
He remembered the purse.
He remembered the card.
And he knew I remembered too.
Detective Morales noticed the way we were looking at each other.
“What happened?”
I kept my eyes on Dominic.
“Three weeks ago, he borrowed my purse.”
Chloe stared at her brother.
Dominic’s head snapped toward me.
“That’s not what happened.”
“You asked for my car keys.”
“Yes.”
“You took the entire purse into your office.”
“For five minutes.”
“Ten.”
He ran a hand through his hair.
“Vivienne, I didn’t even know that card was in there.”
My father spoke from behind me.
“That’s interesting.”
Dominic looked toward him.
My father’s voice remained calm.
“Because you recognized it tonight.”
Dominic said nothing.
Chloe stepped between them.
“You’re twisting this.”
My father ignored her.
“Dominic.”
His eyes stayed on my husband.
“When did you learn what Vivienne’s access card was?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Try.”
Dominic’s jaw hardened.
“This isn’t an interrogation.”
Detective Morales answered.
“No, but mine can become one.”
Dominic looked at her.
Morales folded her arms.
“A million-dollar ring is allegedly missing.”
She gestured toward me.
“A woman has been publicly accused, physically searched without consent, and her personal property has been dumped across the floor.”
Then she pointed toward the camera.
“And now we have evidence that somebody deliberately erased surveillance using a credential assigned to the accused.”
Her eyes settled on Dominic.
“So if you handled that credential recently, I would suggest you start remembering.”
Eleanor stepped toward her son.
“Dominic doesn’t need to answer anything without an attorney.”
Evelyn Ross gave her a cold smile.
“For once, Eleanor, we agree.”
The use of Eleanor’s first name surprised her.
“You know me?”
Evelyn closed her portfolio.
“I know everyone who has requested due diligence information on Sterling Crown assets during the last eighteen months.”
Something changed in Eleanor’s expression.
My father saw it.
So did I.
“What does that mean?”
I asked.
Evelyn looked at my father first.
He gave a small nod.
She turned back to me.
“Not here.”
“No.”
I tightened my father’s jacket around myself.
“If it involves my husband or his family, I want to hear it here.”
Dominic’s eyes moved to Evelyn.
“Vivienne.”
“Don’t.”
The word came out sharper than I intended.
He stopped.
For years, I had let him soften every uncomfortable truth.
Not tonight.
Marcus Reed’s radio interrupted us again.
“Mr. Reed.”
Marcus responded.
“Go.”
“We recovered a local cache.”
Chloe’s head snapped toward him.
Marcus took one step away from us.
“What does it contain?”
“Partial video from the missing interval.”
The ballroom seemed to shrink.
Detective Morales motioned toward the nearest private dining room.
“Let’s see it.”
Chloe immediately objected.
“Why privately?”
“Because this is evidence.”
“I’m the victim.”
“Then you can come.”
Morales pointed.
“Bride, groom, Amanda Price, Mrs. Hartwell, Mr. Hartwell, Ms. Sterling, Mr. Sterling, security, counsel.”
She looked around.
“Everyone else stays here.”
Nathan Cole finally moved.
For most of the confrontation, Chloe’s new husband had stood near the head table looking stunned.
Nathan was thirty-four, quiet, successful, and far less interested in spectacle than the woman he had just married.
He walked toward Chloe.
“Why is Amanda involved?”
Chloe gave him an irritated look.
“She isn’t.”
“You keep answering for her.”
Amanda looked at the floor.
Nathan noticed.
“Amanda?”
“I don’t know anything.”
Her voice trembled.
Chloe grabbed her wrist.
“She said she doesn’t know anything.”
Nathan stared at Chloe’s hand.
“Let go of her.”
For the first time, Chloe obeyed someone.
We moved into the smaller dining room.
A security technician had already placed a laptop on the table.
Marcus closed the door.
On screen, the image showed the corridor outside the bridal suite.
The timestamp read 8:11:43 p.m.
Guests passed in both directions.
A bridesmaid entered.
A server rolled a cart past.
At 8:12:02, Chloe stepped out of the bridal suite.
She was alone.
Her left hand was visible.
The diamond ring glittered beneath the hallway lights.
Nathan leaned closer.
“That’s eight twelve.”
Chloe nodded.
“I said I had it around then.”
The video continued.
Chloe looked both directions.
Then Amanda appeared from the far end of the corridor.
The two women spoke.
There was no audio.
Amanda glanced nervously toward the ballroom.
Chloe removed something from her finger.
Nathan stopped breathing.
The image froze for half a second as the damaged cache skipped.
Then it resumed.
Chloe’s left hand was empty.
Amanda’s silver purse was open.
Nobody spoke.
Chloe stared at the screen.
“That proves nothing.”
Nathan turned slowly.
“You took the ring off.”
“I was adjusting it.”
“You put something in Amanda’s purse.”
“You can’t see what it was.”
Amanda started crying.
Chloe whipped around.
“Stop.”
Amanda covered her mouth.
Chloe stepped toward her.
“Amanda.”
Detective Morales moved between them.
“Don’t talk to her.”
Chloe stared.
“I’m her cousin.”
“Then you can be her cousin after I finish asking questions.”
Amanda’s shoulders shook.
Nathan looked sick.
“Was the ring in that purse?”
Amanda shook her head immediately.
“No.”
Chloe exhaled.
Then Amanda added,
“Not for long.”
Chloe froze.
Every person in the room looked at Amanda.
Morales pulled out a chair.
“Sit down.”
Amanda did.
Chloe remained standing.
“Amanda, don’t be stupid.”
Morales turned.
“One more attempt to influence her statement and I’ll have an officer move you into another room.”
Chloe shut her mouth.
Amanda wiped her face.
“I didn’t want any part of this.”
Nathan’s voice was barely audible.
“Part of what?”
Amanda looked at Chloe.
“The plan.”
Chloe laughed sharply.
“She’s drunk.”
Amanda shook her head.
“No.”
“Amanda.”
“You told me it would be harmless.”
Chloe’s face changed.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
The mask slipped.
Amanda looked at Morales.
“She gave me the ring in the hallway.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why?”
Amanda hesitated.
“Because she wanted it to disappear.”
Nathan gripped the back of a chair.
“What?”
Amanda kept talking.
“She said the insurance policy had been increased before the wedding.”
Chloe lunged verbally.
“That is a lie.”
Amanda flinched.
Morales raised a hand.
“Let her finish.”
Amanda stared at the table.
“Chloe told me to hold the ring until after the reception.”
“Then what?”
“She said someone else would take it.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Chloe laughed.
“You expect anyone to believe that?”
Amanda looked up.
“I never asked.”
Morales leaned forward.
“Why would you agree?”
Amanda’s face crumpled.
“Because I owe money.”
Chloe looked away.
“How much?”
“Thirty-eight thousand.”
“To whom?”
Amanda hesitated.
“Credit cards.”
She wiped at her eyes.
“Medical bills.”
“My mom’s surgery.”
Chloe scoffed.
“I gave her money because she was family.”
Amanda finally looked at her.
“You gave me ten thousand dollars to keep my mouth shut.”
Nathan stepped backward.
It looked as though someone had hit him.
“You staged the theft at our wedding?”
Chloe shook her head.
“No.”
“You handed your ring to Amanda.”
“I can explain.”
“Then explain.”
Chloe looked around the room.
For once, she had no audience she could control.
“It was supposed to be a joke.”
Nathan stared at her.
“A joke?”
“Yes.”
She spoke faster.
“I wanted to scare Vivienne.”
My father’s face became stone.
“You wanted to accuse my pregnant daughter of stealing a million-dollar ring as a joke.”
Chloe ignored him.
“She’s always acting superior.”
I almost laughed.
“I barely speak to you.”
“Exactly.”
Chloe spun toward me.
“You walk into every room acting like none of us matter.”
“That is not what happened.”
“You never defend yourself.”
Her voice rose.
“You never react.”
“And that made you want to frame me?”
“I wasn’t framing you.”
“You pointed at me in front of two hundred people.”
“I knew the ring would turn up.”
“Where?”
Chloe stopped.
Morales caught it.
“Where was it supposed to turn up?”
Chloe looked toward Amanda.
Amanda shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Morales leaned closer.
“You said somebody else was supposed to take the ring.”
“Yes.”
“From your purse?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“After Chloe gave it to me.”
“Did they?”
Amanda nodded.
“About ten minutes later.”
My father’s brow furrowed.
“Who?”
Amanda swallowed.
“I don’t know his name.”
“A man?”
“Yes.”
“What did he look like?”
“Hotel uniform.”
Marcus Reed immediately straightened.
“What kind?”
“Black jacket.”
“Bellman?”
“I think so.”
Marcus looked at the technician.
“Pull employee rosters.”
Amanda continued.
“He came up to me near the service corridor.”
“What did he say?”
“That Chloe sent him.”
Chloe shook her head.
“I never sent anyone.”
Amanda looked at her.
“He knew the code.”
“What code?”
Morales asked.
Amanda hesitated.
“Bluebird.”
Chloe went completely still.
Nathan looked at her.
“What is Bluebird?”
Chloe did not answer.
Amanda did.
“It was the word Chloe told me someone would use if they were supposed to take the ring.”
Everyone looked at Chloe again.
“I didn’t send anyone.”
For the first time, I believed she might be telling the truth.
Not because Chloe was trustworthy.
Because she looked genuinely frightened.
Marcus spoke into his radio.
“Search personnel video for any employee interacting with Amanda Price between eight twelve and eight thirty.”
The technician replied almost immediately.
“That interval overlaps the override.”
Of course it did.
Seven missing minutes.
The exact window someone needed.
Morales looked at Amanda.
“When did the person take the ring?”
“Eight sixteen or eight seventeen.”
Inside the erased period.
My father walked slowly toward Dominic.
“Where were you at eight sixteen?”
Dominic’s face hardened.
“In the ballroom.”
“Can anyone confirm that?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Dominic looked toward his mother.
Eleanor answered immediately.
“He was with me.”
Marcus’s radio crackled again.
“Sir.”
“Go.”
“We have another camera.”
Marcus frowned.
“Location?”
“Freight elevator.”
The technician sounded excited.
“It’s on a different network.”
Marcus looked at us.
“Show it.”
The laptop feed changed.
The timestamp appeared.
8:16:31.
A man wearing a Bellmont Grand bellman jacket entered the freight elevator.
His head was lowered.
A baseball cap shadowed his face.
But he was carrying something.
A silver evening purse.
Amanda gasped.
“That’s mine.”
The man pressed the lower-level button.
The elevator doors began closing.
Then, just before they shut, he lifted his head.
The image caught his face.
Marcus leaned toward the screen.
He didn’t recognize him.
Neither did my father.
But Eleanor did.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
Dominic whispered one word.
“No.”
Chloe stared at the screen in horror.
Nathan looked between them.
“Who is that?”
Nobody answered.
I looked at Dominic.
“Who is he?”
Dominic’s face had lost all color.
Finally, he spoke.
“That’s Peter.”
“Peter who?”
Dominic looked at his mother.
Then at me.
“Peter Lawson.”
The name meant nothing to me.
But it clearly meant something to every Hartwell in the room.
My father’s voice became quiet.
“Who is Peter Lawson?”
Dominic swallowed.
“My mother’s private driver.”
Eleanor stepped backward.
Marcus turned toward her.
“You told police you arrived tonight with a hotel car.”
Eleanor said nothing.
Marcus’s eyes narrowed.
“Where is your driver now?”
Still nothing.
Then one of the officers opened the dining room door.
“Detective.”
Morales turned.
“We found something outside.”
“What?”
The officer looked directly at me.
“A diamond ring.”
My heart dropped.
“Where?”
The officer hesitated.
“In Ms. Sterling’s vehicle.”
Chloe made a sound of triumph.
But the officer wasn’t finished.
“It was taped beneath the driver’s seat.”
The room erupted.
My father raised his voice only once.
“Enough.”
Silence returned.
Detective Morales looked at Eleanor.
Then at Dominic.
Then at Chloe.
A staged theft.
A deleted video.
A disguised driver.
A ring planted inside my car.
And a security override tied to my access card.
This was no longer a cruel wedding prank.
Someone had prepared this carefully.
Someone had expected the police to find the ring.
Someone wanted me arrested.
And as Marcus stared at the freight-elevator footage one more time, he noticed something none of us had seen before.
He froze the image.
Zoomed in.
Then looked at my father.
“Richard.”
My father stepped closer.
Marcus pointed at Peter Lawson’s wrist.
Beneath the bellman jacket was a black electronic band.
The kind issued only to Sterling Crown corporate personnel.
Marcus whispered,
“He didn’t get into our employee areas with a stolen uniform.”
May you like
My father’s expression darkened.
“Someone inside my company gave him access.”
