Chapter 7 - Three Copies and One Missing Original
The gallery was closed immediately.
Customers were escorted into the hotel lobby, where officers recorded their names and contact information. Lydia was asked to remain, but she contacted her attorney and refused further questions.
By sunset, every news outlet in the city had reported that a counterfeit necklace had been found at Aurelia Gallery.
Nora’s name did not appear in the first articles.
It appeared in the second wave.
Teen Scholarship Finalist Questioned in Celestine Counterfeit Investigation.
Daughter of Disgraced Jeweler Connected to Aurelia Security Breach.
History Repeats at Luxury Gallery.
The articles did not say Nora had been cleared.
They did not say Lydia had handled the duplicate before police arrived.
They did not mention the deleted video.
By evening, strangers had begun leaving messages beneath photographs on Nora’s school art page.
Like mother, like daughter.
Thieves raise thieves.
Put her in prison.
Claire shut down the computer.
“Don’t read them.”
“They’re going to reject my college application.”
“Halston has not made a decision.”
“They will.”
Adrian had taken both necklaces to an independent laboratory under police supervision. The results would require several hours.
Mateo was still missing.
His last recorded location was outside the Vale Hotel. Traffic footage showed him following a figure in a green jacket into the underground parking structure.
After that, nothing.
Nora could not remain in the apartment.
She, Claire, and Marcus returned to Aurelia shortly after midnight. Adrian met them beside the employee entrance.
“The laboratory confirmed both necklaces are Crownfire-quality replicas,” he said.
“Then where is the original?” Nora asked.
“No one knows.”
“Could it have been missing for eighteen years?”
“Yes.”
The possibility changed everything.
Aurelia had exhibited, transported, photographed, and insured a replica for nearly two decades.
Millions of visitors had admired it.
Experts had authenticated it.
Insurance companies had protected it.
Someone powerful had ensured that no one examined the center stone closely enough to expose the truth.
Marcus placed the green fabric on the archive table.
“The material comes from a custom uniform supplier,” he said. “Aurelia ordered twelve green jackets for a private event last year.”
“Who received them?” Claire asked.
“Board members and senior staff.”
Adrian opened a personnel file.
The list included Lydia, Julian Voss, Camille North, Adrian himself, the chief financial officer, the head curator, and six trustees.
“Any of them could own the cuff button,” Nora said.
“Or someone borrowed a jacket,” Marcus replied.
Nora took out the brass key.
“My mother left this.”
Adrian led them through the rear corridor to an old elevator hidden behind a wall panel. The public buttons ended at the basement.
He inserted an employee key and pressed beneath the lowest button.
A second panel opened.
There was a keyhole inside.
Nora inserted the brass key.
The elevator descended.
The private archive had not been opened in years.
Dust covered the stone floor. Metal cabinets lined the walls, and wooden crates stood beneath faded shipping labels. At the center of the room was a circular table marked with the Crownfire emblem.
Three lamps hung above it.
White.
Ultraviolet.
Infrared.
“Under Crownfire,” Nora whispered.
Adrian activated the lamps.
Symbols appeared across the table’s surface.
The three flames surrounding the crown aligned with three narrow slots.
Nora placed the locket in the center.
Nothing happened.
She tried the brass key.
It did not fit any visible lock.
Claire searched the cabinets while Marcus examined the walls. Adrian found a registry containing codes for the authorized Celestine replicas.
Replica One: CF-CEL-PHOTO.
Replica Two: CF-CEL-TRANSIT.
Replica Three: CF-CEL-CONTROL.
A fourth line had been added in different handwriting.
Replica Four: CF-CEL-WITNESS.
Beside it was Evelyn’s signature.
Nora stared at the word.
“Witness.”
Adrian turned the page.
A handwritten note had been pressed into the paper beneath the missing sheet.
He shaded it lightly with a pencil until the indentation became readable.
The witness must be carried by the innocent.
Claire looked toward the canvas bag at Nora’s feet.
“The duplicate planted on Nora.”
Adrian nodded.
“Evelyn created it.”
“But why would my mother make the necklace used to frame me?”
“Perhaps it was never intended to frame you.”
Marcus placed the planted necklace beneath the three lamps.
Under ultraviolet light, symbols appeared along the chain.
Under infrared, a series of numbers formed around the clasp.
Nora recognized the first eight digits.
They were the date of Evelyn’s disappearance.
The remaining numbers resembled coordinates.
Adrian entered them into his phone.
The location appeared on a map.
An abandoned river warehouse.
The same warehouse where Claire had last seen Evelyn.
Nora’s phone rang.
Mateo’s name appeared on the screen.
She answered immediately.
“Mateo?”
A man’s voice responded.
“If you want your friend alive, bring the Witness Necklace to the warehouse before two in the morning.”
Nora looked at the clock.
They had thirty-eight minutes.
The caller continued.
“Come without police, without Adrian Cole, and without your aunt.”
The line went silent.
A photograph arrived seconds later.
May you like
Mateo sat tied to a chair beneath a warehouse light.
Behind him, painted across the wall, was the Crownfire emblem.
