Chapter 5 - A Funeral Before Dawn.
At eleven forty-five, the estate speakers chimed.
Margaret's voice announced that Gideon Vale had died peacefully from complications of his stroke.
She ordered every guest to assemble in the chapel for a private farewell before the authorities arrived.
Lucas checked his phone and found no signal.
Ruth explained that the estate's emergency jammer could block every device except Margaret's satellite line.
“She is holding a funeral before anyone can examine him,” Amelia said.
“Because there may be nothing to examine,” Ruth replied.
The old family chapel connected to the manor through a glass corridor.
When Lucas, Amelia, and Ruth entered, candles already surrounded a closed mahogany coffin.
Gideon's physician stood beside Margaret with his eyes fixed on the floor.
Vanessa was nowhere in sight.
Daniel Price read from a prepared statement transferring temporary control of Vale Holdings to Margaret.
Lucas walked directly to the coffin.
“Open it.”
Margaret did not blink.
“Show some respect.”
“Open it, or I will.”
The family attorney tried to block him.
Lucas shoved past, used the brass key in the coffin's side latch, and lifted the lid.
The coffin was empty.
Gasps moved through the chapel.
Margaret allowed herself a small smile.
“You see what grief has done to him.”
Two uniformed officers entered through the rear doors.
Amelia recognized Officer Harlan, the same man who had dismissed her report after someone followed her from the orphanage archives.
He drew his weapon and ordered Lucas away from the coffin.
Margaret pointed at Amelia.
“That woman attacked my daughter, stole a family heirloom, and abducted my dying father.”
Amelia stared at the guests who had seen the opposite.
Not one objected.
Officer Harlan took the jade pendant from her neck and sealed it in an evidence bag.
The loss felt like having her history torn away a second time.
Lucas protested until the second officer twisted his arm behind his back.
Ruth slipped into the shadows before anyone noticed her.
Harlan handcuffed Amelia and leaned close.
“You should have stayed nameless.”
That sentence proved Margaret had told him more than the official accusation.
As he led Amelia toward the patrol car, she saw a thin trail of blood crossing the chapel floor.
It began beneath the empty coffin and disappeared behind the altar.
Amelia stumbled deliberately and pressed her cuffed hands to the tiles.
Her fingers closed around a torn piece of blue fabric.
Gideon had worn blue silk pajamas at dinner.
He had been alive when someone dragged him away.
Outside, rain hammered the courtyard.
Harlan pushed Amelia into the back of the police car while Lucas was forced into another vehicle.
Margaret stood beneath the portico, untouched by the rain.
Vanessa appeared beside her at last, carrying the silver-handled hammer in a clear plastic bag.
She handed it to Harlan.
“Her fingerprints are all over it.”
Amelia knew she had never touched the weapon.
Then she remembered Margaret gripping her hand during the blackout.
Something cold had been pressed against her palm.
Harlan placed the hammer beside the pendant in the evidence case.
The patrol car started down the private road.
Amelia opened her hand and examined the blue cloth hidden between her fingers.
Stitched inside its hem was a strip of paper no wider than a match.
In Gideon's handwriting, it contained four words.
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THE SNAIL IS THE KEY.
THE JADE SNAIL | A VALE FAMILY THRILLER
