Chapter 2 - THE BRACELET ON THE FLOOR

Detective Mara Bennett arrived with two officers and an ambulance team.

She separated Gabriel, Camille, and Iris immediately.

Camille objected.

“This is a domestic misunderstanding.”

Detective Bennett looked at Iris’s swollen face.

“No.”

“This is an assault investigation.”

Camille pointed toward Gabriel.

“He attacked me.”

“He threw me into the swimming pool.”

Bennett turned toward Gabriel.

“Did you push Mrs. Mercer?”

“Yes.”

His attorney had not arrived.

Gabriel did not ask to wait.

“I saw her standing on Iris’s hand.”

“She attempted to strike her again.”

“I moved her toward the terrace and pushed her away.”

“She fell into the pool.”

Camille smiled as though she had won.

“He admitted it.”

Detective Bennett wrote something in her notebook.

“He gave an account.”

“That does not erase what happened before he entered.”

Paramedics examined Iris.

Her hand was fractured.

She had a concussion.

The cut inside her mouth required stitches.

Camille tried to interrupt the examination.

“She fell while running from me.”

Detective Bennett faced her.

“You will not answer questions directed to another person.”

“I am the owner of this estate.”

Bennett glanced toward Gabriel.

He answered quietly.

“The estate belongs to the Mercer Family Trust.”

Camille’s mouth tightened.

The security technician brought in the camera recordings.

Camille folded her arms.

“The living room camera failed.”

The technician connected a laptop.

“The wall display was turned off.”

“The independent recorder remained active.”

Camille’s face lost color.

The footage began at 2:38 p.m.

Iris entered carrying a box of archived invoices.

She placed it beside the desk.

Camille entered from the west hallway holding the emerald bracelet.

She looked toward the fireplace camera.

Then she pressed a button on the wall panel.

The main display went dark.

A second recording continued from inside the ceiling sensor.

Camille placed the bracelet inside Iris’s supply bag.

Then she removed cash from the desk safe.

She scattered it across the floor.

When Iris returned, Camille began shouting.

“You thought you could steal from me?”

Iris looked at the cash.

“I didn’t put that there.”

Camille slapped her.

Iris stumbled against the coffee table.

“You were supposed to leave quietly.”

“I already copied the ledgers.”

Camille froze.

“What did you say?”

“The restoration fund.”

“The land transfers.”

“The payments to your father.”

“I copied everything.”

Camille grabbed Iris by the hair.

The coffee table tipped.

Iris fell.

Camille forced her onto her back and pressed one heel against her hand.

“Tell me where the copies are.”

“No.”

“You don’t know what happened to your mother?”

Iris stopped struggling.

Gabriel felt the air leave his lungs.

Iris’s mother, Evelyn Monroe, had served as financial controller of the Mercer Foundation.

She died four years earlier when her car left the coastal road during a storm.

The death had been ruled accidental.

Camille leaned lower in the video.

“Your mother thought numbers made her brave.”

“Numbers did not save her.”

Iris whispered:

“You killed her.”

Camille pressed harder against her hand.

“Say that again.”

That was when Gabriel entered through the glass doors.

Detective Bennett stopped the video.

The room became silent.

“What ledgers?” she asked.

Iris looked toward Gabriel.

“The Mercer Heritage Restoration Fund.”

“It holds more than one hundred million dollars.”

“And someone has been draining it.”

“How much?”

“Forty-two million.”

Camille stood.

“This interview is over.”

Detective Bennett motioned toward an officer.

“You are not free to leave.”

Camille looked at Gabriel.

“You cannot let her do this.”

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Gabriel stared at the frozen image of Camille’s heel against Iris’s hand.

“You already did it.”