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Claire turned back to the box, opening it and gasping. Inside was a signed affidavit from a barrister and two of Robbins’ old cronies from the war. Deathbed confessions as far as she could tell from a quick scan of the contents. As she finished looking at each document, she handed it to Fletch.
“Good god, Claire. This lays out everything. There’s a ledger showing who things were taken from, where they went, and who they were sold to. Your grandfather had Robbins and his buddies dead to rights.”
“There’s a note from Poppi. He has another affidavit signed by Emil Franklin. He was the man Robbins hired to kill my parents.” She looked up at him in shock. “And Robbins paid him off with some of the jewels they took from the Nazis.”
Fletch snatched the paper from her. “That little bastard.”
“Do you think this is what Evangeline is after?”
Fletch nodded. “She wants to make a run for Parliament. If any of this comes to light, it’ll destroy all of her carefully laid plans. We’ll make two copies of these and leave the originals here. You’ll take one copy and the brooch with you when you meet her. Only we’ll have you rigged for sound and video.”
“What’ll we do with the other copy?”
“I’ll send one of my guys to the Hague. I have friends at Interpol who’ll want to see these. They’ll be in the best position to set things right. Legally.”
She nodded. “This changes everything.”
Later, as she waited for Fletch and his team to finish putting together the recording gear they wanted her to wear to her meeting with Evangeline, Claire couldn’t help but think of the last time they’d talked before the façades had been dropped and Claire had seen the true malice Evangeline bore her.
Evangeline’s Graduation Party
Robbins’ Roost, Kent, England
“Honestly, Evangeline I don’t know how you put up with the little urchin—well, I guess she’s not really that little, is she?” laughed Gemma nastily.
“I am beginning to believe that her grandfather must have something on Papa. She is rather gauche, isn’t she?”
“Gauche doesn’t begin to cover it. The boarding school is going to have to order special uniforms to fit her. Maybe they’ll put her on a diet. Good god, have you seen how she eats?”
Evangeline laughed. “I swear, she’s never met a sweet or carb she didn’t like.”
A Few Days Later
They were brushing their favorite mounts. They were expected to hack out together this afternoon. The things Claire had overheard had really hurt. She had never believed she and Evangeline were best friends, but certainly Claire hadn’t thought she felt so hateful towards her.
“I heard you and Gemma the other day at your party.”
“Oh?” sniffed Evangeline. “Did you hear anything interesting?”
“You called me fat and gauche, and you were laughing at me.”
“Well, that’s what you get for eavesdropping, but I suppose mama would want me to apologize, so I do.”
“I kind of thought we were friends, or at least, I didn’t think you hated me.”
“Friends? You and me? You do realize you only enjoy living here and getting to run in the social circles I do because of my family’s patronage, right? That doesn’t make us friends. You have nothing to offer me in terms of being my friend.” Evangeline huffed. “Damn. Now I’ve chipped my nail polish. Do put my horse up, won’t you? I need to go into the village and see if the idiots who run the nail shop know what they’re doing. No. I’d best have your grandfather drive me into London so I can get them done properly.”
She and Evangeline had basically never talked again, except to trade barbs and insults at boarding school. The school had basically divided into two camps—Evangeline’s and hers. Evangeline had started out with the bigger contingent, but little by little she and Gemma’s group had been whittled down to the elitist of the elite. Claire had no real time for feuding camps, but she made sure Evangeline and Gemma did not pick on the weaker students.
Claire had vaguely followed Evangeline’s career and life. It wasn’t hard as Evangeline made sure she was always in the society pages. It was a bit like watching a train wreck—she didn’t really want to know, but when she was bored or feeling down, it was something Claire did. She’d never done it to feel superior to Evangeline’s shallow life or to make herself feel worse about the way that, regardless of what she did, she’d never be as rich or as thin as her old nemesis. It was more a reminder of where she’d started from and where she was now—a self-assured, confident woman secure in who she was and what she wanted from life and the people she surrounded herself with.
“Okay, the pendant has the recording device. We’ll have a record of everything that is said or done.” He handed her an earbud. “This sucker is tiny. Especially with your hair down, Evangeline will never know it’s there. I’ll be with you the whole time. The pendant means we can see what’s happening in real time.”
“You know I know how these things work, and Mia’s earbud is the same size, but more comfortable.”
He grinned at her. “Duly noted. You don’t have to do this. We have them surrounded. We can rush the building and take her down…”
“And ensure that Mia is safe?”
