The Buyer Behind the Seller
Chapter 14 - The Buyer Behind the Seller
Celia Arden had financed the framing operation.
Conrad provided internal files, replica access, and security. Celia funded Sloane’s media agency, purchased stolen jewels, and planned to acquire Ward & Vale after the scandal reduced its value.
Their partnership broke over the Solstice diamond.
Conrad needed the stone to destroy the employee-transfer clause. Celia wanted it as leverage to take his shares after the sale.
Each attempted to buy the same stolen asset at Geneva.
Celia denied everything.
Her company’s offices contained no direct records. Payments moved through public-relations firms and charitable foundations. She described Sloane as a rogue influencer seeking relevance.
Sloane remembered one in-person meeting with The Witness before she knew the identity. The woman wore sunglasses, a red scarf, and a vintage perfume.
Marisol recognized the perfume.
Celia commissioned it exclusively from Ward & Vale’s beauty division.
Investigators needed more than scent.
Darren’s second phone contained a deleted photograph from the Geneva auction. A mirrored wall reflected Celia without disguise, standing beside Conrad’s proxy. The image was partial but timestamped.
Mirror evidence again.
Celia attempted to leave on her yacht. Authorities froze the vessel, but she challenged the order and prepared a public charity event to prove normal operations.
Helena proposed a final trap.
The recovered Solstice diamond would be displayed at a joint restitution gala under police protection. Publicly, Ward & Vale would announce that the founder’s archive required one additional inscription hidden on the stone. Privately, investigators believed Celia possessed a scanning device built to copy it.
If she attempted access, the device would link her to the auction network.
Sloane objected.
“Another spectacle?”
“No accusation,” Helena said. “No edited reveal. The evidence goes to police before the public.”
The gala proceeded without livestreaming.
That absence made reporters furious.
Celia arrived smiling.
Conrad appeared under court order through video.
The yellow diamond sat inside a sealed transparent case.
At 10:14 p.m., the gallery lights dimmed for a scheduled presentation.
A woman in catering uniform approached the display with a compact scanner.
Marisol recognized her walk.
Celia had changed clothes in the service hall.
Police stopped her before she touched the case.
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Inside the scanner was a copy of the thirty-one-point trust code and a remote connection to Arden’s offshore vault.
The story no longer depended on anyone’s interpretation.
