Chapter 3 - FIVE COPIES
The first independent review found five substituted pieces.
A sapphire pendant.
An emerald brooch.
Two diamond rings.
A ruby bracelet.
All five had strong sentimental significance.
But the total market value was not astronomical.
About $310,000 combined at time of substitution.
Still serious.
Harold’s concern was not only money.
Someone had replaced originals deliberately.
That required planning.
Then Alora discovered a sixth discrepancy.
One of Corrine’s pearl clasps was authentic.
The pearls were not.
Corrine laughed when told.
“Harold was paranoid.”
Maybe.
So Alora asked for old insurance appraisal photographs.
The family insurer retained historical records.
The originals were visible years earlier.
Distinctive inclusions.
Distinctive antique settings.
Later appraisals showed replacements.
The substitutions occurred gradually over eight years.
Not all at once.
That made the pattern harder to see.
Then Thane asked:
“Who had access?”
Corrine.
Sloan.
Thane.
Harold.
House staff at times.
Jewelers.
Insurers.
No instant culprit.
Thane also discovered that Corrine had pressured household staff for years to treat jewelry movement as none of their business.
A former house manager remembered seeing velvet boxes leave the house before family events and return days later.
He never asked questions.
“Mrs. Sterling said she handled personal property herself.”
That was not wrongdoing by the staff.
It showed how status creates silence without explicit threats.
No one needed to be ordered to look away.
They simply learned which questions were considered rude.
Alora refused to assume.
Then she found repair slips.
The emerald brooch was supposedly repaired in 2021 at Weller & Stone.
The jeweler had no record.
The receipt looked professional.
Wrong invoice numbering.
Fake.
Who submitted it to insurance?
Corrine.
She said Harold gave it to her.
Harold’s email archive showed no mention.
Then the ruby bracelet.
Sloan claimed she wore it to a charity gala in 2022.
Photos showed a bracelet.
Could not establish authenticity visually.
But the clasp orientation differed from the original.
Then Laura asked Sloan:
“Did you ever take jewelry to be sold?”
“No.”
“Pawned?”
“No.”
“Consigned?”
“No.”
She answered too quickly.
Then a records search found a luxury resale account under Sloan’s email alias.
Three sold items.
Descriptions omitted family provenance.
One:
antique ruby bracelet.
Sale price:
$27,400.
Sloan stared at the record.
“That wasn’t ours.”
Alora asked:
May you like
“Then where did you get it?”
Sloan had no answer.
