Chapter 3 - THE INSURANCE RIDER
The Bennett diamond was insured separately.
Margaret had updated the rider six weeks before the assault.
Declared replacement value:
$235,000.
The prior insured value:
$160,000.
Why the increase?
New appraisal.
Who issued it?
Not Samuel.
A jeweler named Victor Hale.
Daniel had never heard of him.
Grace Bennett—Claire’s attorney—reviewed the paperwork.
The appraisal looked legitimate.
Victor Hale had a licensed jewelry business.
But the description bothered her.
Color grade.
Clarity.
Measurements.
All slightly different from the family’s older appraisal.
Could stones be measured differently by different professionals?
Yes.
Could lighting and grading account for variation?
Sometimes.
Could the stone have been switched?
Possible.
Not proof.
Then Grace found a detail.
Victor’s appraisal photographed only the ring from above.
No serial laser-inscription image.
The Bennett diamond had been laser-inscribed years earlier after an insurance update.
If Margaret had truly taken the original stone to Victor, the inscription could have been verified.
It wasn’t.
Daniel asked:
“Why would she raise insurance coverage if the diamond was already gone?”
Grace answered:
“We don’t know that it was gone.”
Then Claire remembered something.
Two months earlier, Margaret showed her the ring at lunch.
She complained:
“The stone looks dull lately.”
Claire said:
“Maybe it needs cleaning.”
Margaret answered:
“Or maybe somebody has been touching things that aren’t theirs.”
Claire thought it was one of Margaret’s usual barbs.
Now it sounded like planting.
Then Grace obtained Margaret’s insurance correspondence.
One email:
If center stone is lost from setting during normal wear, does policy cover full appraised value?
Insurance agent:
Subject to inspection, cause, exclusions, and claims review.
Another:
What if suspected theft cannot be proven?
Claire stared.
“She was asking before she accused me.”
Daniel’s face went pale.
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Then came the next shock.
Margaret had asked those questions before Claire ever stayed alone in the house.
