Page 127 of Brutal Prince

Denied entry is putting it mildly. The whole place had been taped up as a crime scene, and it didn’t matter how much I yelled, howled, or sobbed at them, they wouldn’t let me go inside. After I’d come down off the tranquilizers enough to give my statement to the police, I had to stay with my friend until social services handed me over to Marigold, my closest surviving kin and guardian.

“Our investigator inventoried the remaining undamaged items. Fortunately, several of the high-value items specified on your policy were retrieved undamaged.”

“Oh. Good.”

I guess this guy does this every day, because you’d think he’d sound happier about the fact that he didn’t have to pay out so much money.

God, why couldn’t Marigold have handled this shit? My mind’s already slipping away to much, much more pleasant things.

Detention, for example.

“…item we can confirm missing.”

“Sorry?” I say, reluctantly dragging myself back to the present.

“There is one high-value item we can confirm as missing.”

Instantly, my mind flashes to the necklace safe in its hiding spot upstairs.

I open my mouth to tell them I have it, but the claims guy doesn’t give me a chance to speak.

“Since the value of this item is over five-hundred-thousand, we are now changing the type of claim from fire damage to theft.”

Theft? Shit.

“Oh, no, you don’t—”

“Our investigator contacted the Lakeview police department today. They have confirmed that they will reopen the case as a murder investigation. You may need to come through to the station to answer some questions, but they will be in contact with you directly to confirm the date and time.”

Holy fuck.

If I tell him I have the necklace, they’ll close the case again. But the insurance company obviously doesn’t want to pay out half-a-mill if they can get the police to actually do their jobs and track down the thief.

The thief is me, but that’s no one’s business but mine.

“Do you think, I mean, the police said there wasn’t enough evidence…”

Mr. Fallow lets out a low laugh. “Ms. Virgo, our investigator is one of the best in the country.”

Obviously — insurance companies have a monetary obligation to unearth as many fraudulent claims as possible.

“So, what are you saying?”

“His report details several key pieces of evidence the police missed on their first sweep. Including, but not limited to the fact that the upstairs safe had been broken into.”

My skin goes ice-cold.

Cigarette smoke envelops me an instant later, and I spin to face Marigold, gesturing her back with a grimace and a flick of my hand. But then I see the dread anticipation in her eyes, and I remember how she’d been sitting on the floor of my mom’s old room, chain-smoking and emptying out a tissue box.

She’s a hag of a bitch, but it’s obvious she loved her daughter as much as I loved my mom.

My face melts, and I hold up my hand, mouthing, “hang on,” before leaning against the wall.

“The motive behind this was most definitely theft, Ms. Virgo. Taking into account the fact that it was the only item missing, we must assume that the suspect knew exactly what they were looking for, and already had plans to sell the item.”

I shift, nibbling the inside of my lip.

On a scale of one-year community service to a life sentence, how much shit will I get into for lying to an insurance company?

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