Chapter 2 - The Mother's TestimonyMrs. Martha Carter didn't look like a woman broken by grief; she looked like a woman burning with a quiet, lethal wrath. As Marco ushered her into the room, she bypassed the high-class furnishings and walked straight to little Rosie, scooping the child into her arms and burying her face in the pink pajamas.
Then, she raised her head and stared directly at Vivienne.
"Where did you get that ring?" Martha’s voice shook, not with fear, but with a mother's instinct.
"Ask your boss," Vivienne spat, crossing her arms. "He’s the one running a courtroom in his own dining room."
"I asked Sofia to put that ring away the day she started working here," Martha said, ignoring Vivienne completely. She looked at me. "Mr. Vance, my daughter worked in your kitchen and your private library for four years. She never took that ring off. Not when she washed dishes, not when she cleaned the silver, not when she slept. When we found her body—when the doctors said she had a sudden stroke in her sleep—her jewelry box was on her nightstand. The ring was gone."
I looked back at Vivienne. "An estate sale?"
Vivienne didn't answer. She turned her face toward the storm outside.
"Marco," I said. "Open the safe in my study. Bring down the master key-card audit logs for the staff quarters. Let's see who accessed the third-floor employee wing between midnight and 4:00 AM on the night Sofia died."
Marco nodded and vanished into the hallway.
For three minutes, nobody spoke. The wind battered the glass. Rosie whimpered softly against her grandmother's shoulder, her thumb in her mouth.
"You think I killed her?" Vivienne finally whispered, her voice cracking with theatrical disbelief. "You think I murdered a maid for a stupid ring?"
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"Nobody mentioned murder, Vivienne," I replied, my eyes locking onto hers. "We were talking about a stolen ring. Why did your mind immediately jump to murder?"
The color drained entirely from Vivienne’s face. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. The hook was set deep, and she knew she had just dragged herself further onto the line.
