Chapter 5 - The Vase Was Never an Accident
By midnight, Nicholas had canceled the Christmas celebration and sent every guest home.
Snow continued falling across Chicago.
At the hospital, Emily's condition was improving, but she remained weak and under observation.
Nicholas had stationed security outside her room.
Not to imprison her.
To make certain no one approached her without permission.
Back at the mansion, Luca examined the broken pieces of the porcelain vase.
“Something isn't right,” he said.
Nicholas looked across the dining table.
“What?”
“The vase was supposedly a priceless antique. But this marking underneath was made less than ten years ago.”
Nicholas frowned.
“That's impossible.”
Luca turned a fragment toward him.
Beneath the glaze was a manufacturer's stamp.
The vase was a reproduction.
Nicholas remembered the original.
His grandfather had purchased it in Hong Kong decades earlier, and it had remained in the entrance hall for as long as he could remember.
“Where's the real one?” he asked.
Luca shook his head.
“We haven't found it.”
Nicholas examined another fragment.
Something metallic was embedded inside the thick porcelain base.
Luca carefully worked it free.
A tiny brass key dropped onto the table.
Attached was a narrow strip of paper protected by plastic.
Nicholas unfolded it.
Three words had been written in faded ink.
Margaret knows why.
Nicholas stared at the message.
“Richard planted the replacement vase,” Luca said.
“Or someone wanted it broken,” Nicholas replied.
A security guard entered.
“Sir, Richard is demanding a lawyer. He says you won't understand what happened fifteen years ago.”
Nicholas walked toward the door.
Then his phone vibrated.
The hospital.
Dr. Bennett was calling.
“Mr. Grimaldi, Emily is awake.”
Nicholas felt his chest loosen.
But the doctor wasn't finished.
“She remembered something about her mother's last Christmas.”
“What?”
Dr. Bennett hesitated.
“Emily says her mother received a letter just before she died.”
Nicholas gripped the phone.
“From whom?”
May you like
“Your sister, Isabella.”
The date on the envelope was only six months old.
