Chapter 7 - THE HOUSEKEEPER
Rosa Bennett was not related despite the surname.
She had worked for Margaret six years.
The sapphire bracelet incident happened after one of Charles’s earlier business losses.
Margaret accused Rosa privately.
No police report.
She demanded Rosa open her handbag.
Rosa refused.
Margaret fired her.
Three weeks later the bracelet turned up inside a luggage pocket.
Margaret never contacted Rosa.
Daniel found her through an old payroll record.
She agreed to speak.
“She always thought people wanted what she had.”
Claire asked:
“Did she ever apologize?”
“No.”
“Why didn’t you challenge her?”
Rosa shrugged.
“I needed a reference.”
Margaret gave a neutral one.
Rosa moved on.
The story could have stayed there.
Then Rosa added:
“Her brother was there that day too.”
Charles.
Daniel froze.
“What happened?”
Rosa remembered Margaret and Charles arguing in the study.
Money.
A loan.
Jewelry.
Then the bracelet “disappeared.”
Could the old incident also have been staged?
No proof.
Rosa never saw Charles take anything.
The bracelet was eventually found.
Grace warned Claire:
“Do not turn pattern into certainty.”
Still, the timing mattered.
Then Charles agreed to talk.
He looked ashamed.
“I knew about the diamond.”
Daniel stared.
“You knew she sold it?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before she did it.”
“Did you tell her to?”
“No.”
“Did you stop her?”
Charles looked down.
“No.”
Why?
Because the loan was his.
Margaret sold the stone partly to save him.
Then Charles said:
“She told me she’d make the loss disappear.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“What does that mean?”
“I thought insurance.”
“You knew she planned a claim?”
“I suspected.”
“Did you know she’d blame Claire?”
Charles shook his head.
“No.”
Then he said:
“But she asked me one question.”
Daniel waited.
May you like
Charles answered:
“She asked whether pregnancy makes people look financially desperate.”
