Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN IN THE IVORY JACKET
“That's not my mother.”
Dante leaned closer to the security footage.
The woman wore an ivory jacket almost identical to Evelyn's.
Her silver hair was arranged in the same neat style.
She carried a small handbag.
But she walked quickly, without the slight stiffness Evelyn had developed in her right knee.
Evelyn watched the recording from her chair.
“I've never seen that woman before.”
Nina pointed toward the screen.
“She has Mom's handbag.”
Dante turned to Frank.
“Find out who she is.”
Frank enlarged the image.
The woman's face remained partially hidden beneath a wide-brimmed hat.
But as she moved past the laundry cart, something fell from her handbag.
A small velvet case.
She retrieved it quickly.
Then Aaron handed her a folded sheet of paper.
They separated at the service elevator.
I suddenly remembered the afternoon.
At approximately four o'clock, Sabrina had asked me to bring Evelyn's ivory jacket from the upstairs sitting room.
She said Evelyn needed it for photographs.
When I arrived, the jacket wasn't hanging in the closet.
It was already gone.
“Miss Vale,” I said, turning toward Sabrina.
“Did you borrow Mrs. Marchetti's ivory jacket this afternoon?”
Sabrina looked exhausted.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She wanted to wear something different for the engagement pictures.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“I never asked you to choose my clothes.”
Sabrina pressed a hand against her forehead.
“I can't remember every conversation.”
Dante didn't raise his voice.
“Who was that woman?”
“I don't know.”
But Nina noticed something.
“Sabrina, look at her shoes.”
We watched the footage again.
The woman wore low black heels with distinctive silver buckles.
Sabrina went very still.
“Those are my mother's shoes,” she whispered.
Dante frowned.
“Lillian's?”
Sabrina nodded.
“My mother gave them to a woman who helps her with appointments. Her name is Teresa.”
Lillian Vale had been ill for several years.
Sabrina had often spoken about the enormous expense of her treatment.
According to Sabrina, Aaron had kept the family shipping company alive largely to pay those bills.
“Teresa works for your mother?” Dante asked.
“She used to. Aaron hired her privately last winter.”
“And she was impersonating mine tonight?”
Sabrina didn't answer.
Frank checked the guest and vendor records.
A woman named Teresa Bell had entered through the service entrance using credentials supplied by Vale Freight.
She had left twenty minutes before the wedding announcement.
Dante turned to his mother.
“Where do you keep the old signature stamp from the foundation?”
Evelyn looked confused.
“In the velvet stationery case. Why?”
“Because someone dressed as you may have been carrying it.”
My stomach tightened.
I remembered moving that case earlier.
Evelyn had asked me to take it from the sitting room to the locked cabinet beside her bedroom.
It contained family photographs, handwritten thank-you notes, and the old stationery she used for foundation correspondence.
I had placed it exactly where she requested.
But I hadn't checked its contents.
“Mr. Marchetti,” I said, “I moved that case this afternoon.”
Every eye turned toward me.
Sabrina straightened.
“You what?”
“Mrs. Marchetti asked me to.”
Sabrina looked at Dante.
“Now perhaps you'll understand why I was concerned about Lucy.”
Nina immediately stepped forward.
“Don't start.”
But Sabrina continued.
“Your mother was injured. Her private belongings were moved. Now her financial stamp is missing.”
Dante looked at me.
“Lucy, tell me exactly what happened.”
I explained the request.
The cabinet.
The key Evelyn had given me.
And the fact that I returned it immediately.
He listened without interruption.
Then he turned to his mother.
“Did you ask Lucy to move the case?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Evelyn lowered her eyes.
“Because I was afraid Sabrina would take it.”
Sabrina stared at her.
“You thought I would steal from you?”
Evelyn met her gaze.
“I heard you arguing with Aaron yesterday. You said he couldn't afford another mistake.”
Sabrina's lips parted.
“You were listening?”
“I was walking through my own house.”
Dante looked toward Frank.
“Check the cabinet.”
Ten minutes later, Frank returned carrying the velvet case.
It was empty.
The photographs were gone.
The stationery had disappeared.
And so had Evelyn's signature stamp.
But Frank had found something else.
A folded inventory card beneath the velvet lining.
It listed every item originally stored inside.
At the bottom was a handwritten note.
PROPERTY REMOVED FOR PRIVATE AUTHENTICATION.
Signed:
LUCY BENNETT.
I stared at my name.
“I didn't write that.”
Dante examined the signature.
Then he looked at me.
“Lucy, somebody is trying very hard to make you responsible for what happened tonight.”
Frank turned over the card.
On the back was a second instruction.
If anything happens to the original witness, the housekeeper will be identified as the person who removed the evidence.
Nina whispered, “What original witness?”
Evelyn suddenly covered her mouth.
Her eyes were fixed on the handwriting.
“I know who wrote that,” she said.
May you like
And when Dante asked for the name, his mother began to cry.
“Your father warned me about that man six years ago.”
