Chapter 7 - the pocket sewn for a crime
On the morning of the wedding, Evelyn inspected every seam of Sophie’s flower-girl outfit.
The white jacket had arrived in a sealed garment bag.
Inside its right side was a new pocket.
The opening was almost invisible.
Evelyn cut the pocket out.
Then she photographed the altered stitching and placed the removed fabric inside Margaret’s evidence folder.
Sophie watched from the bed.
“Will they still try?”
“Yes.”
“Should I be scared?”
Evelyn sat beside her.
“You should be careful. But you are not alone.”
Sophie held Arthur’s brass key.
“Mommy used to say being brave doesn’t mean you stop being scared.”
“She was right.”
“Was she scared before she died?”
Evelyn thought of the garage recording.
“Yes.”
“Did nobody help her?”
“I think she tried to help all of us.”
A knock sounded.
The hotel seamstress entered carrying another white jacket.
“Mrs. Hawthorne requested a replacement.”
Evelyn checked the new jacket.
It also contained a hidden pocket.
She held it up.
“Who instructed you to add this?”
The seamstress looked confused.
“It was part of the design sheet.”
“Show me.”
The printed order bore Celeste’s electronic signature.
Celeste had already denied knowing about the pocket.
Someone had used her authorization.
Evelyn asked the seamstress to leave both jackets and say nothing.
When the door closed, Margaret entered with news.
“The original trust document has been removed from the hotel vault.”
“By whom?”
“The access log shows my card.”
“Were you there?”
“No.”
“Then someone copied your credentials.”
Margaret opened her folder.
“The transfer acknowledgment must be signed before midnight. Without the original trust, Marianne can present a replacement version.”
“One containing Adrian’s clause.”
“Exactly.”
Sophie walked to the window.
Outside, guests were arriving in black cars.
“What happens if we leave now?”
Margaret answered honestly.
“Marianne will claim Evelyn abandoned the legal ceremony. The board may suspend her authority while it investigates.”
“What happens if we stay?”
“They will try to make your aunt sign something.”
Sophie turned.
“Then we stay and don’t sign.”
Evelyn smiled despite the fear in her chest.
“That is the plan.”
Margaret handed her a small earpiece.
“Marcus created a private channel. He says the cameras will record continuously.”
“Do you trust him?”
“No.”
“Neither do I.”
“But for now, we need him.”
A message appeared on Evelyn’s phone.
It came from an unknown number.
The theft will happen at 8:17 p.m.
The child will be approached from behind.
Do not stop it too early.
Evelyn showed Margaret.
“Someone wants us to let Sophie be framed.”
“Or someone wants us positioned where the cameras can capture it.”
At seven forty-five, they entered the ballroom.
Sophie wore the replacement jacket.
Evelyn had deliberately left the hidden pocket intact.
But inside it, she had placed a miniature audio recorder.
The wedding began beneath thousands of white roses.
Celeste walked down the aisle with Marianne.
Adrian waited at the altar.
Preston stood beside him in a black tuxedo.
At eight fifteen, Sophie scattered the final petals.
At eight sixteen, the photographer called Evelyn toward the family portrait area.
At eight seventeen, a waiter dropped a tray beside Sophie.
Guests turned toward the sound.
A figure wearing a black wedding glove moved behind the child.
The hand slipped something into Sophie’s hidden pocket.
Evelyn saw it.
She also saw the face reflected in a silver champagne bucket.
Adrian Blackwood.
May you like
The groom returned to the altar before anyone else turned around.
Thirty seconds later, Preston reached into his jacket and shouted that his phone was missing.
