The Diamond With a Second Heart
Chapter 04 - The Diamond With a Second Heart
The necklace had been made from forty-one small diamonds surrounding one larger stone called the Holloway Star.
It was not especially famous. Evelyn had once dismissed it as “sentimental provincial jewelry,” which was rich coming from a woman who owned an emerald large enough to require planning permission.
Thomas Holloway had rebuilt the clasp after a man followed Grace home during her first year at Treasury. Two quick presses sent location and audio to a secure receiver. A third press uploaded everything to an encrypted cloud.
Cole had torn the necklace away after the first signal. He believed he had stopped it.
He had only removed the microphone.
The central diamond contained a microscopic optical chip beneath its setting. Thomas had used the stone’s refraction pattern as a physical encryption key. Without the original diamond, the dormant server under Holloway Architecture and Trust could not be opened.
Unfortunately, the necklace remained missing.
Federal agents searched Mercer House for sixteen hours. They found the broken chain inside a laundry chute and three small diamonds beneath Evelyn’s dressing table. The Holloway Star was gone.
Cole denied taking it.
Julian denied seeing it.
Evelyn asked why anyone would hide such an ordinary stone.
Grace watched the interview from a hospital conference room.
“She has it,” she said.
Noah agreed. “Based on evidence?”
“Based on the way she said ordinary.”
The protective order barred Julian from contacting Grace. It did not stop his public-relations team. Photographs appeared showing Grace arguing with him at charity events. A former maid claimed Grace threw a vase. The vase had actually fallen when Julian slammed a door, but broken objects photographed well and explanations did not.
Mercer Foundation suspended Grace from its board “for her health.”
Lena responded by filing a shareholder action and demanding a forensic audit.
Then a young housekeeper named Emma Lane called the hospital from a prepaid phone.
“I saw Mrs. Mercer take the big diamond,” she whispered. “She put it inside a blue glove.”
“Where are you?”
“In the servants’ pantry.”
A door opened near Emma.
Her breathing stopped.
A man asked, “Who are you calling?”
The line went dead.
By the time federal agents reached Mercer House, Emma had vanished. Security logs showed she left through the west gate at 6:12 a.m.
The gate camera was conveniently offline.
On the pantry floor, agents found a torn blue glove and a smear of fresh blood.
Grace left the hospital against medical advice.
Noah met her in the lobby.
“You have cracked ribs.”
“I also have a coat.”
May you like
“That is not a medical argument.”
“It is the best one available.”
