Chapter 2 - THE SERVICE CORRIDOR
Paramedics arrived before police.
Sophie sat on a banquet chair while a medic examined the cut near her temple.
“It will probably need a few stitches.”
My stomach tightened.
“Concussion?”
“She’s alert and responsive.”
The medic looked at Sophie.
“Any dizziness?”
“A little.”
“We’ll take her in and have her evaluated.”
Sophie immediately squeezed my hand.
“Are you coming?”
“Every second.”
Across the ballroom, Preston was whispering angrily to Margaret.
Cassandra stood several feet away from them.
Her veil was still pinned perfectly into place.
But the wedding had ceased to exist for her.
Detective Aaron Cole arrived with two uniformed officers.
He first spoke to Alvarez.
Then to me.
Then to Sophie.
When he approached Preston, Margaret stepped between them.
“My son will speak through counsel.”
Cole looked at the broken oak pieces on the floor.
“That’s his choice.”
Margaret’s eyes narrowed.
“You seem to have already decided what happened.”
“I watched the footage.”
“So did I.”
“Then we’re off to a productive start.”
Cassandra nearly smiled.
Margaret did not.
Cole asked Alvarez to pull footage from the service corridor.
Alvarez hesitated.
“There’s a blind spot near the laundry access.”
“Pull everything around it.”
The next clip began at 2:51.
Margaret entered the service corridor carrying the bracelet.
Preston followed.
The camera angle changed.
They disappeared near a gray service door.
Three minutes later, Margaret came back alone.
The bracelet was no longer visible.
Preston returned two minutes after that.
Cole paused the clip.
“Where does that door lead?”
“Staff storage.”
“Locked?”
“Yes.”
“Who has access?”
“Management, maintenance, banquet supervisors.”
Preston spoke from across the room.
“And hundreds of hotel employees.”
Alvarez looked at him.
“Not hundreds.”
Preston ignored him.
Cole turned.
“Did you enter that room?”
“No.”
The recording was still frozen on Preston walking toward the door.
Cole looked back at the screen.
“Interesting.”
Margaret interrupted.
“My daughter is supposed to be married today.”
Cassandra turned toward her.
“Stop saying that like it matters more than Sophie.”
Margaret’s face stiffened.
“You’re emotional.”
“So is the child your son attacked.”
Preston stepped toward Cassandra.
“Don’t do this.”
“Do what?”
“Turn on your family.”
Cassandra stared at him.
“You framed a little girl.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it.”
Preston glanced toward Cole.
“Not here.”
That phrase lodged in my mind.
Not here.
At the hospital, Sophie needed three stitches.
The CT scan showed no serious injury.
I sat beside her bed while she ate crackers and watched cartoons.
Then she suddenly muted the television.
“Mommy?”
“Yes?”
“I saw something before the wedding.”
My body went still.
“What?”
She looked toward the door.
“Mr. Preston was arguing with Grandma Margaret.”
Sophie called Margaret Grandma because Cassandra’s fiancé, Ethan, was Sophie’s uncle on her father’s side.
That was why we had been invited.
That was why Sophie had been chosen as flower girl.
“What were they arguing about?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you hear anything?”
Sophie nodded.
“He said, ‘If Cassandra finds the papers, everything is gone.’”
My pulse quickened.
“What papers?”
“She said something about a safe.”
There was a knock.
Detective Cole entered.
His expression was serious.
“Ms. Bennett, we searched the service room.”
“Did you find the bracelet?”
“No.”
My stomach dropped.
Cole continued.
“But we found something else.”
He held up an evidence bag.
Inside was a small brass key.
May you like
Taped to it was a handwritten label.
CASSANDRA - PRIVATE SAFE.
