Chapter 4 - CATHERINE MERCER'S LOCKED ROOM
Catherine Mercer’s cottage stood beyond the eastern gardens.
It was smaller than the main mansion but older by almost a century.
Catherine had loved it because Dominic’s father had proposed to her there.
After her death, Natalie rarely entered it.
Brooke apparently had no such hesitation.
Victor called Dominic from outside the cottage at 6:14 a.m.
“The rear service lock was changed.”
Dominic’s expression darkened.
“By whom?”
“We’re checking.”
Brooke stood near the fireplace.
She pretended not to listen.
Dominic noticed.
“Open it.”
Victor paused.
“Without the key?”
“Open it.”
Twenty minutes later, Dominic, Natalie, Emma, Brooke, and Victor were standing inside Catherine’s cottage.
The first thing Natalie noticed was the missing portrait.
A large photograph of Catherine and Noah had always hung above the writing desk.
Now the wall was empty.
“Where is it?”
No one answered.
Natalie walked toward the bedroom.
Then she stopped.
Her mother’s closet had been emptied.
Catherine’s dresses were gone.
Her shoes were gone.
Several storage boxes were missing.
Natalie turned.
“What did you do?”
Brooke remained calm.
“The cottage needed to be prepared.”
“For what?”
“The wedding.”
Natalie stared at her.
“My mother’s clothes were in that closet.”
“They were old.”
Natalie moved toward Brooke.
Dominic caught her arm gently.
Brooke gave Natalie a thin smile.
“I donated most of them.”
Natalie’s eyes filled with tears.
“You had no right.”
“They were collecting dust.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“Where is my mother’s jewelry?”
Brooke’s smile disappeared.
“In the vault.”
Victor looked at Dominic.
“No.”
Everyone turned.
Victor held a small security tablet.
“I checked the estate log.”
“The trust vault was opened Tuesday at 11:42 p.m.”
Dominic stared at him.
“By whom?”
Victor hesitated.
“Your authorization code.”
Dominic’s voice became colder.
“I was in London.”
Natalie looked at Brooke.
Brooke’s face remained almost perfectly still.
Almost.
Emma saw one muscle move in her jaw.
Victor continued.
“The second authentication was Ms. Harrington’s fingerprint.”
Dominic slowly turned.
Brooke exhaled.
“You gave me access months ago.”
“To wedding storage.”
“The vault system doesn’t distinguish rooms.”
“It does.”
Brooke’s face changed.
Dominic took a step toward her.
“I designed the security permissions myself.”
Silence filled the cottage.
Victor looked down at the tablet again.
“There’s more.”
Dominic waited.
“The vault was opened four times during the past month.”
Natalie covered her mouth.
Dominic’s eyes stayed on Brooke.
“Where is the jewelry?”
Brooke folded her arms.
“Safe.”
“That was not my question.”
Brooke stared back at him.
“Dominic, you are humiliating me two days before our wedding.”
“No.”
He moved closer.
“You are doing that yourself.”
Then Emma noticed something beneath Catherine’s desk.
A strip of white fabric.
She bent down.
It was part of a cloth jewelry pouch.
Catherine Mercer’s initials were embroidered across the corner.
C.M.
Emma handed it to Dominic.
He recognized it immediately.
His mother had kept her emerald necklace inside that pouch for thirty years.
Dominic turned toward Brooke.
“Last chance.”
Brooke’s expression finally broke.
“I can explain.”
Dominic looked at the empty closet.
Then the forged documents.
Then the cut jewelry pouch.
May you like
“I’m beginning to hope you can’t.”
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