Chapter 9 - The Silver Watch
Elena did not tell Marcus what she had seen.
Not immediately.
She asked Detective Alvarez for two minutes alone with Nathan.
The detective refused.
So Elena said it in front of everyone.
“Marcus was in that room.”
Marcus froze.
“What?”
She showed Alvarez the photo and zoomed in on the corner.
The silver watch reflected under the cellar light.
Marcus lifted his left wrist.
Empty.
Nathan stared at him. “Where is it?”
Marcus’s mouth opened, then closed.
Alvarez stepped closer. “Mr. Dean?”
“I lost it.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
Claire muttered, “Convenient.”
Marcus shook his head. “I swear, I left it in the hotel restroom after washing my hands. The clasp broke.”
Elena studied him.
He looked terrified.
That did not make him innocent.
Alvarez ordered an officer to check hotel security footage.
Ten minutes later, the answer came back.
Marcus had entered the restroom at 8:41 p.m. He had come out at 8:46 wearing no watch.
At 8:49, another person entered.
Victoria’s personal assistant, Daniel Pike.
Nathan whispered, “Daniel?”
Elena had met Pike at half a dozen family dinners. Quiet. Efficient. Forgettable by design.
Claire’s expression changed.
“That’s who handled Victoria’s mail five years ago.”
Nathan looked at her. “The messages you sent me.”
“Yes.”
Alvarez’s phone rang.
While she answered, Elena looked toward the door.
The officer guarding it was speaking to hotel security.
For one second, nobody was watching the side corridor.
Elena’s mind worked fast.
If Pike had Marcus’s watch, he wanted them to blame Marcus.
If he had taken Claire’s old messages, he might have been more than Victoria’s assistant.
Maybe he was the person cleaning up every mess she created.
Alvarez ended the call. “We found Walter.”
Elena stood so quickly the chair scraped backward.
“Where?”
“Victoria Hale’s estate.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
Nathan exhaled.
Then Alvarez added, “But Victoria isn’t there.”
“What about Pike?”
“Gone.”
Elena looked at Claire.
The flash drive was still in Elena’s purse.
Or it should have been.
She opened the purse.
May you like
The drive was missing.
In its place lay Nathan’s wedding ring.
