The officers moved through the estate before anyone could gather themselves.
One went toward the library. Another followed Thomas Reed down the corridor toward the offices. Marian instructed the guests to remain where they were while statements were taken, her voice calm enough to make the impossible seem procedural.
Victoria stood alone near the balcony doors.
The river moved below her, black and indifferent.
“Where is the ring?” she asked.
Elena did not answer.
“I asked where the ring is.”
“Under the water.”
“You knew it would transmit?”
“Not forever. Long enough.”
Victoria gave a thin smile. “You planned this.”
“I planned to survive you.”
That landed harder than Elena expected. Victoria looked at her not with anger, but with a kind of offended fascination.
“You came into this family with nothing.”
“I came into this family with a job, a mother who loved me, and a name you never bothered to learn.”
“You were a receptionist.”
“I was an archivist before that. I worked in the maritime records department at the university.”
Victoria’s expression shifted.
Elena had told her once, early in the engagement, while they were sitting beneath the lemon trees in the conservatory. Victoria had not listened. She had been studying Elena’s shoes.
“I know how to read shipping manifests,” Elena continued. “I know how to follow altered dates and duplicate hull numbers. I know what happens when a company keeps two sets of books.”
Julian looked toward her.
“How long have you known?”
“About the accounts? Six weeks.”
“And about my father?”
“Three weeks.”
He turned away, pressing his fingertips against his lips.
Elena wanted to touch him, but she waited. Their marriage had been announced, celebrated, and nearly destroyed in less than an hour. He needed the dignity of choosing where to stand.
Victoria saw the hesitation.
“You see?” she said to Julian. “She has been investigating us from the beginning.”
“No,” Elena replied. “I began investigating after I found a death certificate with the wrong vessel name.”
