Chapter 6 - The Stolen Pearl Names Someone
Police found Daniel Cross before sunrise.
He was alive.
The blood in the Wellington van belonged to him.
He had been struck in the head and left in a stairwell two blocks from the garage.
At the hospital, Daniel told investigators he had ordered the van because Elaine Foster instructed him to.
She used Charles’s email account.
Daniel believed the request was legitimate.
He drove to the restaurant loading dock.
A man in a catering uniform approached the van.
Daniel remembered nothing after that.
Victor asked the obvious question.
“Was it Robert?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Different build.”
The stolen pearl remained missing.
Elaine stopped answering her phone at 2:14 a.m.
Her apartment was empty.
Her passport was gone.
But she made one mistake.
Her home printer retained recent jobs.
One was a boarding pass.
New York to Zurich.
Departure: 8:40 a.m.
Victor wanted to go to the airport.
Police told him not to.
He hated being told to wait.
Lucy understood.
She sat across from him in the private dining room as dawn brightened the windows.
“My dad used to say waiting feels like doing nothing only when you can’t see what other people are doing for you.”
Victor looked at her.
“He sounds annoyingly wise.”
“He was.”
“You miss him.”
“Every day.”
Victor nodded.
“So do I.”
Margaret slept in a chair nearby.
For the first time all night, she looked peaceful.
Victor watched her.
“I almost let Robert throw her out of my own restaurant.”
“You weren’t here.”
“I should’ve been.”
“You were coming.”
“That’s not the same.”
Lucy understood the guilt.
She had spent eight years wondering whether she should have noticed something before her father died.
Guilt loved impossible timelines.
Police arrested Elaine at JFK.
She had pearl six in a small cosmetics case.
The chip was intact.
By noon, federal investigators arrived.
The case had expanded beyond local police.
Corporate fraud.
Potential murder conspiracy.
International financial transfers.
Aircraft sabotage.
Victor, Margaret, Lucy, and Marcus watched as agents opened pearl six.
The audio resumed exactly where pearl one ended.
Michael Carter’s voice:
“The authorization came from Elaine Foster’s credentials.”
Victor closed his eyes.
Then Arthur answered:
“She doesn’t have authority for W-17.”
Michael said:
“Exactly. Someone cloned her credentials.”
Victor opened his eyes.
Elaine had not authorized the sabotage.
At least not originally.
Michael continued.
“The clone was created from a board-level terminal.”
Arthur asked, “Which terminal?”
“Your brother’s.”
Margaret gasped.
Victor stared.
Charles Wellington.
The man Arthur trusted most.
The recording continued.
But Michael added:
“Arthur, I don’t think Charles did it.”
Victor leaned forward.
“The terminal was accessed while Charles was in Tokyo. Someone used his office.”
“Who had access?”
Michael answered.
“Three people.”
The file ended.
Another message appeared.
CONTINUED ON PEARL 9.
Marcus opened pearl nine.
The audio resumed.
Michael named the three people.
Charles’s assistant at the time.
The corporate security director.
And Elaine Foster.
Victor’s jaw tightened.
Elaine had access after all.
Arthur asked whether Michael could determine which one used the terminal.
Michael said yes.
He had found a badge log.
Then the audio stopped.
CONTINUED ON PEARL 12.
Pearl twelve opened.
Michael’s voice returned.
“The badge belonged to Elaine.”
Margaret whispered, “So it was her.”
But Arthur answered:
“Too easy.”
Victor looked at the screen.
His father had seen it eleven years earlier.
Michael agreed.
“The badge was reported stolen the day before.”
“By Elaine?”
“Yes.”
“Who received the report?”
Michael hesitated.
Then named someone.
Margaret stood so quickly her chair fell backward.
“No.”
Victor looked at her.
The name belonged to Thomas Bell.
The current owner of the restaurant.
May you like
The man supposedly in London.
And Arthur’s former corporate security director.
