The Locket at Her Throat
Chapter 02 - The Locket at Her Throat
Every guest turned toward Elena.
She felt the tray trembling in her hands and lowered it before the glasses could fall. Vivienne Hawthorne crossed the ballroom with surprising speed, silver gown glittering around her like armor. Behind her came the family attorney, Thomas Reed, and several board members who had expected a ceremonial speech, not an interrogation of a maid.
Vivienne stopped inches away. Her eyes fixed on the blue swallow.
“My daughter Amelia wore this the night she disappeared,” she said.
Celeste gave a nervous laugh. “Grandmother, it’s an old trinket. She probably stole it from the east wing.”
Elena flinched. “I have never entered the east wing.”
“She has worked here eleven months,” Regina added. “That is plenty of time to learn where valuables are kept.”
Beatrice stepped forward. “Mrs. Hawthorne, Elena arrived at the house wearing that locket. I saw it on her first day.”
Vivienne held out one hand. “May I?”
Elena hesitated, then removed the chain and placed it in the old woman’s palm. Vivienne pressed a hidden catch along the edge. The locket sprang open, revealing a faded photograph no larger than a thumbnail: a young woman with dark hair, laughing into the wind.
On the opposite side were four engraved words.
My brave little swallow.
Vivienne’s breath broke.
“I gave this to Amelia on her eighteenth birthday.”
The room began to murmur. Cameras appeared. Regina whispered to security, but Thomas Reed raised his hand and stopped them.
Vivienne looked at Elena’s face as though seeing it for the first time—the dark eyes, the small cleft in her chin, the slight tilt of her head when she was frightened.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-six.”
“When is your birthday?”
“February seventeenth. At least, that is the date on my foster records.”
Vivienne’s fingers tightened around the locket. Amelia Hawthorne had vanished twenty-six years earlier, eight months pregnant. Her car had been found burned beside a ravine. No body had ever been recovered, but the police concluded she had died in the fire.
Regina stepped between them. “This is grotesque. Someone has studied the family history and planted her here.”
Elena stared at her. “I did not even know who Amelia Hawthorne was.”
Vivienne turned to Thomas. “Find a laboratory that can work tonight.”
Celeste’s smile vanished.
“Grandmother, you cannot be serious.”
May you like
Vivienne closed the locket and returned it to Elena.
“For twenty-six years,” she said, “I have lived with a grave that contained no body. Tonight, I intend to learn whether it also contained a lie.”
