Chapter 9 - Claire Left a Trail of Blue Stones
Richard Walker had one piece of information nobody else possessed.
Three years after Claire disappeared, he received a postcard with no
return address.
On the front was a blue sapphire.
On the back:
I’M SORRY. I HAD TO KEEP HER SAFE.
He assumed it was cruel nonsense after being told Claire miscarried.
He threw it into a drawer.
Now he gave it to investigators.
The postmark came from Oregon.
Claire’s later letters to Vanessa had been mailed through forwarding
services, hiding their origin.
But one envelope contained microscopic pollen consistent with the
Pacific Northwest.
Investigators searched records for Emily Carter.
A woman under that name had worked at a community library in Oregon
twelve years earlier.
Then she changed her name again.
The trail ended.
Until Sophie noticed something.
Claire’s final letter mentioned:
When the blue stones reach three, I’ll be ready.
The ring was one blue stone.
The postcard was another.
What was the third?
Lily answered accidentally.
“The necklace.”
Everyone looked at her.
In the locked archive, beside the pregnancy photograph, Lily had seen a
necklace with a tiny blue stone.
Vanessa had removed it before police entered.
Daniel turned toward her.
May you like
Vanessa closed her eyes.
She had one more secret.
