Chapter 13 - The Picture Frame

"Which photograph?" Tess asked.

"The one from the gala," Naomi said. "Mom in the red sweater."

June pulled up the foundation's website. Naomi remembered taking it herself on Elena's fifty-second birthday. The original had hung in a cheap silver frame above their kitchen table. When the fire happened, a Sterling representative requested it for a memorial service and promised to return it. No one ever did.

"They didn't just copy the picture," Naomi said. "They took the frame."

Claire called a contact at the foundation office. The frame had been kept in a display case on the gala's donor floor. After the incident, Vanessa ordered all materials placed in secure storage at Sterling Tower.

"I can get us in," Claire said.

"No," Mara replied. "If we trespass, they'll use that to question everything we find. I'll seek an order to preserve the items."

"That could take days," Naomi said.

"Then we make them know we're watching."

June published the full, uncropped discipline form, along with Elena's recorded warning about the locked stairwell. The story broke at lunch. By dinner, tenants from six Sterling buildings had sent June photos of jammed exits and ignored repair requests. A retired fire inspector called Mara and said he'd been removed from the Briar House investigation after demanding the electronic lock logs.

Vanessa responded with a fireside video, her voice trembling on cue.

"Our foundation has helped countless families. We will not be bullied by people seeking a payout."

Naomi watched until Vanessa used the words "my dear Elena." She turned it off.

At eight, Claire received a call from her father's assistant. He sounded frantic. The display case had been opened. The original silver frame was missing.

"Vanessa took it," Claire said. "She's taking it to the incinerator with the old donor displays."

Naomi stood, already reaching for her coat. Mara caught her wrist.

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"We do this with witnesses," the lawyer said. "No more giving them a story about a reckless waitress."

Then the building's fire alarm sounded, and smoke began pouring under Mara's office door.