Chapter 4 - SLOAN'S DEBT
Sloan was twenty-four.
Beautiful.
Spoiled, according to Thane.
But not stupid.
She had spent years presenting an expensive life:
designer clothing,
travel,
private clubs,
art events.
Most of it looked family-funded.
It was not.
Harold stopped giving her unrestricted money at twenty-one.
He paid:
education,
health insurance,
housing contribution.
Not luxury spending.
Sloan quietly accumulated debt.
Credit cards.
Buy-now-pay-later balances.
Personal loans.
A failed boutique investment.
By twenty-two, she owed about $96,000.
Corrine knew.
Thane did not.
Harold suspected but never knew the total.
Sloan first sold a piece of her own jewelry.
Then another.
Then, according to financial records, she deposited nearly $30,000 days after the ruby bracelet resale.
That linked her strongly.
But not to five pieces over eight years.
She had been sixteen when the earliest substitution occurred.
Then Alora looked at Corrine.
Different timeline.
Corrine controlled:
jewelry storage,
insurance renewals,
family event loans,
repair appointments.
Sloan could have learned from her later.
Then Corrine said:
“You think I stole my own jewelry?”
Harold had purchased many pieces during marriage.
Depending on ownership and estate treatment, some were jointly held, some gifts, some specifically titled.
“Own” was complicated.
But criminal labels would depend on exact ownership.
Alora did not overclaim.
The real question:
Who substituted what?
Then Thane remembered one family habit.
Corrine often said:
“Why leave money sitting in a box?”
He thought she meant investing.
Maybe she meant something else.
Then investigators found an old email from Corrine to a private jeweler.
Subject:
TEMPORARY RESET.
Body:
Need a replacement convincing enough for family photographs.
May you like
Date:
eight years earlier.
