Chapter 6 - Lila Had Found More Than the Pendant
A toddler cannot give a formal account like an adult.
So we did not interrogate her.
We let her speak in fragments.
Over the next several days, certain details repeated.
“Bianca box.”
“Mommy lady.”
“Pretty paper.”
Then Lila pointed repeatedly at her flower basket.
I emptied it carefully.
Petals.
Ribbon.
A tiny plastic toy.
Nothing else.
Then I examined the lining.
There was a tear near one corner.
Inside the fabric pocket was a folded card.
Not legal documents.
Not a confession.
A storage receipt.
Westbridge Private Archive.
Box number.
Annual fee.
Original depositor:
Natalie Mercer.
Authorized secondary contact:
Bianca Sterling-Ross.
The date was 2013.
My hands went cold.
Lila had apparently found the pendant and storage card together in Bianca’s bridal-suite luggage.
That explained Bianca’s panic.
The pendant established the relationship.
The receipt established that Bianca still possessed information about a storage box Natalie created during the original business scandal.
And if Bianca had kept that card for twelve years, she had either tried to access the box—
May you like
or had been waiting for the chance.
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