Chapter 3 - THE PEARL LOCKET
The locket had belonged to Arthur’s late wife, Catherine.
Its appraised value was around $18,000.
Its emotional value was far greater.
Catherine wore it at her wedding, after Clara’s birth, and in the family’s last portrait before her illness worsened.
After Catherine died, Arthur gave it to Clara.
Seraphina knew that.
She had once asked:
“Should a nine-year-old really keep something that expensive in her bedroom?”
Arthur answered:
“It belongs to her.”
Now Seraphina had chosen that exact object to frame Elena.
Why?
Because everyone would notice it missing.
Because Clara would panic.
Because Elena had worked for the family for eleven years.
If the locket appeared in Elena’s drawer, the betrayal would feel devastating.
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Seraphina was not merely planting evidence.
She was designing emotion.
