Chapter 2
Restoration File 17 was not at the estate.
That was the first problem.
According to the Caradonna Heritage Collection index, the original restoration archives had been transferred twelve years earlier to a climate-controlled records facility outside Chicago.
Sebastian called the facility himself.
They had Files 1 through 16.
Then 18 through 63.
Seventeen was missing.
Lucinda sat across from Claire two hours later.
Her attorney, Rebecca Shaw, had arrived.
“Do you know what Restoration File 17 contained?” Claire asked.
Lucinda folded her hands.
“No.”
Sebastian said nothing.
Claire continued.
“Giuseppe specifically wrote that you knew why the inventory should not be trusted.”
“My grandfather wrote many strange notes toward the end of his life.”
“He wasn’t your grandfather,” Sebastian said.
Lucinda looked at him.
“Fine. Your grandfather.”
Giuseppe had been Sebastian’s grandfather and Lucinda’s great-uncle.
The distinction normally would not matter.
Tonight, every attempt Lucinda made to distance herself mattered.
Claire asked, “Did you know an envelope was inside the vase?”
Lucinda paused.
“No.”
Sebastian watched Preston.
His eyes moved toward Lucinda.
Tiny reaction.
Enough.
“You did,” Sebastian said.
Lucinda glared at him.
“You have no proof.”
“No.”
He leaned back.
“But Preston grabbed my wrist before he knew what the note said.”
Preston’s attorney finally spoke.
“My client has already explained that he believed the envelope contained private family material.”
Sebastian looked at him.
“How did he know it contained anything private?”
No answer.
Claire turned toward the insurance records.
The vase Lucinda called priceless was insured for $3.8 million.
Sebastian stared at the figure.
“That seems high.”
Lucinda almost laughed.
“It was eighteenth-century Venetian porcelain.”
“Was?”
“Is.”
Sebastian looked toward the ballroom floor.
“Not anymore.”
Rebecca interrupted.
“The object’s current physical condition does not change its historical authenticity.”
Claire reviewed the most recent appraisal.
The vase was listed as:
Venetian, circa 1760. Caradonna Collection provenance documented continuously since 1891.
Valuation had nearly doubled three years earlier.
Lucinda chaired the family heritage committee that approved collection appraisals.
Preston had recommended the appraisal firm.
That did not prove wrongdoing.
It created another reason to keep looking.
Sebastian asked for every insurance schedule covering the collection.
The collection contained paintings, sculpture, porcelain, furniture, jewelry, and religious objects accumulated over several generations.
Total insured value:
$96 million.
Claire looked up.
“Any loans secured by it?”
Sebastian frowned.
“Not that I know.”
Lucinda said nothing.
Preston looked at the table.
Sebastian noticed both.
Claire called the family CFO.
The answer arrived twenty minutes later.
Yes.
Caradonna Heritage Holdings maintained an art-backed revolving credit facility secured by selected collection assets.
Maximum line:
$24 million.
Outstanding balance:
$13.6 million.
Sebastian stared at Lucinda.
“I chair Heritage Holdings.”
“You signed the facility.”
“I signed a renewal package based on the certified asset schedule.”
“That is still signing.”
Claire lifted one finger.
“Not helping.”
Sebastian looked at the collateral list.
The shattered vase sat near the top.
Insured value: $3.8 million.
Lender-recognized collateral value: $2.4 million.
He kept reading.
Several other pieces had undergone major valuation increases during the same three-year period.
“Who certified the schedule?”
Lucinda answered.
“The heritage committee.”
“Who chaired it?”
Silence.
Sebastian already knew.
“You.”
Then Claire found another document.
A transport authorization prepared three days earlier.
The shattered vase had been scheduled to leave the estate the morning after the wedding.
Destination:
A private conservation studio.
Lucinda had signed the authorization.
Sebastian looked at her.
“For what restoration?”
Lucinda’s face hardened.
“Routine condition work.”
“The vase was supposedly worth almost four million dollars.”
“Yes.”
“And you planned to ship it the morning after a crowded wedding without telling me?”
“I run the collection.”
Sebastian glanced at Giuseppe’s note.
If this vase is ever broken, do not rely on the current inventory.
Then he looked back at his cousin.
“No.”
May you like
His voice stayed calm.
“You ran it.”
