Chapter 10 - THE NEW MYSTERY
A month passed.
Life in the Moretti mansion had completely transformed.
Victor Bellini and Vanessa were sitting in federal prison awaiting trial without bail. The charges of murder, extortion, and kidnapping carried life sentences.
Leo moved into the east wing of the estate. Luca immediately set him up with the finest tutors to prepare him for his rightful place in the family business.
My mother was finally resting. Luca had hired top specialists for her arthritis, and she spent her afternoons in the sunroom, peacefully knitting without pain.
As for me, I had traded my housekeeping uniform for a desk in Luca’s corporate office. I was helping him manage the charitable foundation he established in his mother’s name.
And slowly, carefully, Luca and I had begun dating.
It was a beautiful, quiet Saturday afternoon.
Isabella’s wedding was exactly five months away.
I was sitting in the library, looking over the guest list, when Isabella burst through the doors.
She was holding a small, silver velvet pouch.
“Emma! You have to see this!” she gasped, running over to my desk.
“What is it?” I asked, alarmed by her wide eyes.
Isabella dumped the contents of the pouch onto the mahogany desk.
It was a stunning, vintage sapphire necklace. The stone was massive, surrounded by delicate diamonds.
But it wasn’t the beauty of the jewelry that caught my attention.
It was the dark, dried stain on the back of the silver clasp.
Blood.
“I was going through the cedar chest again,” Isabella explained, her hands shaking. “I wanted to find a matching pair of gloves for the dress. There was a false bottom in the chest. This was wrapped in a newspaper from twenty years ago.”
I stared at the necklace.
“Isabella,” I said slowly. “Is this your mother’s?”
She shook her head vigorously. “No. I’ve seen pictures of all my mother’s jewelry. She hated sapphires.”
I picked up the heavy necklace.
I turned it over.
May you like
Engraved on the back of the sapphire setting were the initials: E. S.
Emma Sullivan.
