Chapter 6 - The Second NecklaceBy morning, Vanessa had disappeared.
Police searched hotels, airports, private residences.
Nothing.
Mason froze every account connected to her.
But money was already moving.
Millions had vanished overnight.
Then Detective Collins found something.
A second necklace.
Identical to the one recovered from the angel.
Same diamonds.
Same clasp.
Same engraving.
The first necklace was real.
The second was a replica.
Mason stared at the two pieces on the evidence table.
“Which one belonged to Vanessa?”
Detective Collins shook her head.
“We don't know.”
Emma studied the necklaces.
Then she noticed the engraving.
One had a tiny diamond-shaped mark.
The other did not.
“This one is fake,” she said.
Mason frowned.
“How can you tell?”
“My sister taught me.”
“You recognize jewelry?”
Emma nodded.
“She worked for a jeweler before working for Adrian.”
She turned the genuine necklace over.
“There's always a maker's mark here.”
Mason looked.
The fake necklace had none.
Detective Collins picked it up.
“So Vanessa had a fake.”
“And she used it to stage the theft.”
Emma's expression darkened.
“But why?”
Mason answered quietly.
“To frame you.”
“Exactly.”
Then Lily entered.
She was carrying her stuffed elephant.
“Daddy.”
Mason turned.
“What is it?”
Lily whispered:
“Mommy made another one.”
“Another what?”
“Another angel.”
Mason stopped breathing.
“Where?”
“Upstairs.”
They followed her.
Lily led them into Vanessa's dressing room.
Behind a curtain sat a second white angel.
Mason lifted it.
Hollow.
Inside was another note.
This time there were four words.
THE FIRST BODY WASN'T MINE.
Emma stared.
“What does that mean?”
Detective Collins took the note.
“We need to know what body she's referring to.”
Then the police received an urgent call.
A vehicle had been found abandoned near the river.
Inside was blood.
Vanessa's blood type.
And a woman's bracelet.
Mason recognized it.
Vanessa wore that bracelet every day.
He closed his eyes.
“No.”
Emma touched his arm.
“Don't assume she's dead.”
Detective Collins looked at them.
“There's more.”
“What?”
“The blood was spilled recently.”
Mason asked, “How much?”
“Enough to make it look like someone was badly injured.”
“But?”
“But there was no body.”
They reached the river.
Police lights reflected across the black water.
The car door was open.
A single shoe lay beside it.
Then Detective Collins noticed something beneath the driver's seat.
A photograph.
Mason picked it up.
It showed Vanessa.
Standing beside a grave.
Six years earlier.
Emma looked at the grave marker.
She recognized the name immediately.
It belonged to her sister.
But the strangest part was the date.
The grave had been marked as empty.
Emma stepped backward.
“My sister's body was never buried.”
Mason stared.
“Then whose grave is this?”
A voice came from behind them.
“Mine.”
They turned.
Vanessa stood beneath the trees.
Alive.
May you like
Blood stained her dress.
And she was holding a gun.
