Chapter 14 - The Woman in Burgundy
The first story online called Claire a runaway bride. The second claimed she had been intoxicated. A third quoted an anonymous wedding guest saying Adrian had always treated her with patience. Claire read until the words blurred. Mara finally took the phone away and opened a blank notebook. "Write down what you remember before their version replaces yours," she said. Claire listed the plate, the guests, Eleanor's smile, the clenched fist, the two phones, and the way nobody moved when she fell. She remembered tiny details: a spoon rolling under a chair, champagne bubbles racing up the glass, the scent of white lilies. None proved the larger crimes. All of them proved she had been there, and she had seen what she had seen.
By noon, news outlets were running footage of the wedding confrontation. Someone had filmed Claire kneeling beside the food and cropped the clip so it appeared she had simply fallen while Adrian tried to help her. Eleanor gave a brief interview outside the Vale estate.
"My son is heartbroken," she said. "We wish Claire nothing but the care she clearly needs."
Claire threw her phone onto the couch. "She knows exactly what she's doing."
Mara replayed the video. "Then we show the whole thing."
Nina, the server, had recorded part of the confrontation, including Adrian ordering Claire to kneel and Eleanor's smile. She agreed to provide the original footage, but wanted protection from retaliation by the venue.
"We'll take care of her," Alvarez said.
Claire went with the detective to a scheduled meeting with state investigators. A forensic accountant, Devon Reed, spread the Vale transactions across a long table.
"The transfer would have given Adrian authority to approve a sale," he explained. "But the forged signature is only one part. Someone also tried to change the foundation's board minutes."
"Who?" Claire asked.
"We found a login attributed to your sister."
Claire's stomach tightened. "Sophie didn't do that."
"I didn't say she did. I said the account used her credentials."
When Claire called Sophie, there was no answer. The protective officer outside the hospital said she had left after receiving an urgent message claiming Claire had been injured.
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Mara checked the screenshot Sophie had forwarded minutes earlier.
The message contained Claire's name, the hospital address, and the words COME NOW. But its sender was the private number Eleanor had once used to invite Sophie to family dinners.
