Chapter 10 - The Stone Hidden Above the Child
Eighteen years earlier, Evelyn arrived at Claire’s apartment carrying three objects.
The locket.
The Crownfire lens.
And the original Celestine Diamond.
Nora was asleep in a crib beside the bedroom window.
Evelyn removed the necklace from its velvet case, opened the canopy support above the crib, and sealed the Celestine inside the hollow metal rod.
“She said no one would search near a baby,” Claire explained.
“Was she right?” Nora asked.
“For one night.”
At dawn, Evelyn returned.
She took the necklace and said the hiding place was no longer safe. She refused to tell Claire where she intended to move it.
Hours later, her car was found beneath the bridge.
“Why did the ledger name you?” Adrian asked.
“Because Evelyn needed proof that the necklace had been transferred to a neutral custodian. I signed the Crownfire record.”
“Did Lydia know?”
“She saw me leaving Evelyn’s workshop that evening. For years, she assumed I still had the Celestine.”
Nora felt anger pushing against everything else.
“You could have told me.”
“I could have placed you in Lydia’s hands.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I received photographs of you walking to school. Records from your doctor’s office. Copies of our apartment lease. Every time I considered speaking, something arrived to remind me that Lydia was watching.”
Nora wanted to shout.
Instead, she asked the question she feared most.
“Did Mom survive the bridge?”
Claire’s eyes filled.
“I don’t know.”
The emergency board meeting began at Aurelia the next afternoon.
Lydia barred Nora and Claire from entering, but Adrian still held authority as gallery manager. He invited them as witnesses in the counterfeit investigation.
The board gathered in the grand exhibition room.
Reporters waited behind velvet barriers. Cameras pointed toward the central platform, where the two recovered replicas rested beneath glass.
Lydia wore another red blazer.
She addressed the press with practiced sorrow.
“Aurelia Gallery has been the victim of a coordinated attempt to exploit a painful chapter in our history. Evidence suggests the counterfeits were created using techniques developed by Evelyn Hale, a former employee previously connected to the disappearance of the original Celestine Diamond.”
Nora stood behind the reporters.
Lydia continued.
“Although Miss Hale’s teenage daughter may have been manipulated by adults, we must allow law enforcement to determine her level of involvement.”
The cameras turned toward Nora.
Lydia had placed her in the story without directly accusing her.
Adrian stepped onto the platform.
“The board has not authorized that statement.”
“The foundation chair has emergency authority.”
“Not when the chair is personally connected to the transactions under investigation.”
Whispers spread through the room.
Adrian displayed the Meridian payment records.
He explained that Simon Grant had received money from an Aurelia Foundation account days before entering the gallery with invalid police credentials.
Lydia remained calm.
“My login information was stolen.”
“Then you will support a complete audit.”
“Of course.”
“And release all files connected to Evelyn Hale?”
The question sharpened the room.
Lydia looked toward Nora.
“There are legal and privacy considerations.”
“Arthur Vale’s trust requires full disclosure if the scholarship is activated.”
“The trust can be challenged.”
“Not without explaining why you concealed its terms for six years.”
Lydia’s eyes hardened.
Camille North sat at the end of the board table.
She wore a dark blue dress and the square black ring Mateo had identified. Her cane rested against her chair.
Nora watched her closely.
Camille did not look frightened.
She looked prepared.
A reporter called out.
“Mrs. Cross, did you accuse Evelyn Hale of stealing a necklace that had already been replaced by a replica?”
Lydia approached the microphone.
“Evelyn was seen with the original.”
“By whom?”
“By me.”
The lights above the stage dimmed.
A video appeared on the large gallery screen.
It showed the scholarship interview.
Nora leaving her canvas bag beside the table.
Lydia blocking the camera.
A gloved hand in a dark green sleeve placing the Witness Necklace inside.
The deleted footage had survived.
Mateo stood beside the projection controls.
“My camera uploaded everything before the blackout,” he announced.
The video continued.
The accomplice turned slightly.
The face remained hidden, but the black square ring was visible.
Every camera in the room turned toward Camille.
Camille looked at Lydia.
Then she slowly rose without using her cane.
“I planted the necklace,” she said.
Nora felt the room shift beneath her.
Camille removed the ring and placed it on the table.
“But Lydia Cross ordered me to do it.”
Lydia’s expression did not change.
“You should think very carefully about your next words.”
“I have thought about them for eighteen years.”
Camille reached inside her dress and removed a small recording device.
“Fortunately, I recorded your order.”
She pressed play.
Lydia’s voice filled the exhibition hall.
Put Evelyn’s Witness in the girl’s bag. Once she is accused, the locket becomes evidence, and I can finally take it legally.
Reporters surged toward the platform.
Lydia stared at Camille.
“You have no idea what you’ve done.”
Camille faced Nora.
“I know exactly what I’ve done.”
May you like
Then she said the words that silenced the entire gallery.
“Your mother asked me to frame you.”
