Chapter 2 - Grant Sealed The Emerald Gown
Officer Grant did not let anyone touch the dress.
He asked Emma to place it gently across the velvet fitting bench, then
cleared the area around it.
Victoria stood near the mirrors, pale and restless.
Daniel looked at the metallic point protruding from the inner seam.
“How deep is it?”
Grant crouched without touching it.
“Deep enough that someone wearing the dress might not see it before
putting weight against the fabric.”
Emma folded her arms around herself.
The needle was positioned near the left side of the waist.
Not loose.
Not forgotten.
It had been pushed through the inner lining and secured beneath several
stitches.
Grant photographed everything.
Then he asked the boutique manager, Victoria, a simple question.
“Who knew Emma was trying this gown today?”
Victoria answered too quickly.
“Everyone on staff.”
Emma looked at her.
“No.”
Victoria froze.
Emma pointed toward the green gown.
“I didn’t choose this until twenty minutes ago.”
Daniel turned.
“What?”
Emma explained.
Her appointment had been for a blue gown.
When she arrived, Victoria told her the blue dress had been damaged in
shipping and suggested the emerald one instead.
Victoria’s hands began trembling.
Grant noticed.
“So who selected the replacement?”
Victoria swallowed.
“I did.”
Daniel’s voice dropped.
“Then who knew?”
Victoria looked toward the back office.
“My assistant, Chloe.”
Grant asked where Chloe was.
“She left early.”
“When?”
Victoria checked the clock.
“About ten minutes before Emma arrived.”
Grant’s expression sharpened.
The timing was wrong.
If Chloe left before Emma arrived, she should not have known Emma would
be offered the emerald gown.
Unless the substitution had been planned before Emma entered the
boutique.
Grant asked for the appointment records.
Victoria hesitated.
Then she opened the scheduling system.
Emma’s original fitting note had been edited at 10:14 that morning.
BLUE GOWN changed to EMERALD — PRIVATE HOLD.
The change was made under Victoria’s manager login.
Victoria stared at the screen.
“I didn’t do that.”
Daniel looked at her.
“It’s your account.”
“I know.”
Grant remained calm.
“Who has your password?”
“No one.”
Then Emma noticed a printed card beneath the keyboard.
A handwritten password was taped to the underside.
Victoria went silent.
Grant photographed it.
Anyone who entered that office could have used her account.
Then the boutique phone rang.
Victoria answered on speaker at Grant’s request.
Nobody spoke.
Only breathing.
Then a woman whispered:
May you like
“She wasn’t supposed to find it before the gala.”
The line went dead.
