Chapter 2 - Emma Pointed Toward The Locked Door
Nathan stopped questioning Claire and called 911. He wrapped his jacket
around Emma and stayed beside her while paramedics examined the swollen
ankle and shallow cut near her heel.
Claire offered the key to the chain, but Nathan made her put it on the
floor. He refused to let her control one more thing.
When Detective Laura Bennett arrived, Emma kept glancing at Claire
instead of answering questions. Nathan noticed and ordered Claire out of
the room.
The moment the door closed, Emma grabbed his hand.
“Daddy, I didn’t break the vase.”
Nathan frowned. “What vase?”
“The blue one. Claire said you’d be mad.”
“I don’t care about a vase.”
Emma began crying again.
“She said I couldn’t tell you what I saw.”
Nathan’s voice softened. “What did you see?”
“A man in your office.”
Nathan’s private office had been locked before the birthday party.
“What was he doing?”
“He was taking your papers. He put them in the red bag.”
Nathan knew the bag immediately. A red leather document case normally
sat inside his office safe. It contained old corporate records, property
documents, and a sealed envelope left by his late wife, Sophia.
Police checked the office.
The door was unlocked. The safe stood open. The red case was gone.
At the end of the hallway, officers found a shattered blue vase. Emma’s
second glitter shoe lay beside it.
Claire had not restrained Emma because a child broke something.
Someone had restrained a five-year-old after she witnessed a theft.
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And the stolen case contained the last unopened material Sophia had left
behind.
