Chapter 6 - The Footage That Vanished in the Dark
The blackout lasted eleven seconds.
Mateo later confirmed the exact duration from the video feed.
Eleven seconds were enough for the emergency shutters to begin lowering, for shoppers to scream, for glass to shatter near the rear corridor, and for the security tablet to disappear from Adrian’s hand.
When the lights returned, Marcus Reed locked the front doors.
“No one leaves,” he announced.
Lydia stood beside the central counter, breathing quickly.
The duplicate necklace remained in her hand.
Nora’s bag lay open on the marble floor.
Adrian searched beneath the counter.
“The tablet is gone.”
“Then use another device,” Nora said.
“The recording was stored on the internal security server,” Lydia replied. “Someone should check whether your friend outside interfered with it.”
Nora looked toward the gallery windows.
Mateo was gone.
Panic tightened around her chest.
“What did you do to him?”
Lydia ignored the question.
Adrian accessed the security system from a desktop terminal. The screen displayed a warning.
ARCHIVE CORRUPTED.
The footage from the previous hour had been deleted.
Lydia slowly regained her confidence.
“How unfortunate.”
“Mateo recorded it,” Nora said.
“Who is Mateo?”
“The person who saw your accomplice put that necklace in my bag.”
Lydia’s eyes narrowed.
“Then where is he?”
Nora had no answer.
Police officers arrived seven minutes later.
The first officer through the door was Detective Simon Grant, the same man who had led the investigation into Evelyn’s disappearance.
Claire had warned Nora that he retired two years earlier.
Yet there he was, wearing an official badge and speaking privately with Lydia before questioning anyone else.
Grant examined the duplicate necklace and Nora’s bag.
“A sophisticated counterfeit found in the suspect’s possession,” he said. “That is sufficient for detention.”
“She is not a suspect,” Adrian replied.
Grant looked at him.
“You might want to consider your position carefully.”
“I know my position. The real Celestine never left the case.”
“That only means the girl failed to complete the switch.”
Nora stepped forward.
“The gallery’s video showed someone planting it.”
“What video?”
“The recording that disappeared after the lights went out.”
Grant smiled faintly.
“So the evidence proving your innocence conveniently vanished.”
“It was deleted.”
“By whom?”
“Probably the person Lydia paid.”
Lydia placed one hand against her chest.
“This is outrageous.”
Grant reached for Nora’s arm.
Marcus stepped between them.
“She is seventeen. Her guardian is on the way.”
“I’m authorized to detain a minor suspected of a major property crime.”
“Not without identifying yourself through active department records.”
Grant’s expression changed.
Marcus removed his phone and called the central dispatch office.
The badge number Grant provided belonged to a detective who had retired and surrendered his credentials.
Grant turned toward the exit.
The shutters had already sealed the doors.
Adrian looked at Lydia.
“You called him.”
“I called the number listed in our emergency file.”
“A file you updated last month.”
Grant shoved past a sales associate and ran toward the rear corridor.
Marcus followed.
A struggle sounded beyond the showroom, then a metal door slammed.
By the time Marcus reached the service alley, Grant had disappeared.
Claire arrived with two uniformed officers from the correct district.
She pulled Nora into her arms.
For several seconds, Nora allowed herself to feel seventeen again.
Then she remembered Mateo.
She called him.
No answer.
She called again.
His phone went directly to voicemail.
Adrian searched the rear corridor. Near the shattered glass, he found the missing security tablet.
The screen had been crushed.
The storage card was gone.
Lydia spoke softly to the officers.
“I understand that this appears confusing, but the counterfeit was still found in Nora’s bag. Until we know who made it, none of us should make accusations.”
Nora turned toward her.
“You know who made it.”
“Do I?”
“You recognized the Crownfire cuff.”
Lydia’s composure slipped.
Only for a moment.
Then she smiled again.
“You are frightened and embarrassed. I forgive you for saying irrational things.”
Claire moved between them.
“Stay away from her.”
Lydia looked at Claire with open contempt.
“You were always good at standing between Evelyn and the consequences of her choices.”
Before Claire could respond, Marcus returned from the service corridor.
He carried a green strip of fabric torn from a jacket sleeve.
The edge was stained with blood, but there was no sign of the person who had worn it.
Adrian placed the duplicate beneath the examination lamp.
He studied the clasp through three different lenses.
“There is no commercial maker’s mark,” he said.
Nora stepped closer.
“What about Crownfire?”
“The identifier is too small for an ordinary lens.”
Marcus unlocked the central case again.
He compared the inventory necklace with the duplicate.
Then he frowned.
“The serial number is correct,” he said.
“On which necklace?” Claire asked.
Marcus looked at both pieces.
“Both of them.”
Adrian’s face went still.
“That cannot happen.”
Lydia said nothing.
Adrian examined the Celestine inside the case again.
The blue center stone caught the light.
A faint shadow moved beneath its surface.
Nora remembered seeing the same movement during the interview.
Adrian reached for a gemstone tester.
The device produced a sharp warning tone.
He tested the center stone a second time.
May you like
Then he looked at everyone in the room.
“The necklace inside the case is not the original Celestine.”
