“What’s wrong, honey?”
Kloe’s eyes filled with tears.
She looked at Madison.
Madison gave her a warning look so quick most people probably missed it.
I didn’t.
Neither did the officer.
“Kloe,” Derek said quietly, “do you know something about Mommy’s bracelet?”
Kloe began crying.
“I didn’t steal it.”
Derek’s expression changed.
“Nobody said you did.”
She wiped her face with both hands.
“Mommy told me to put the box in Aunt Emma’s bag.”
The room seemed to collapse inward.
Madison lunged verbally before anyone else could react.
“Kloe, stop it.
You don’t know what you’re saying.”
Kloe flinched.
Derek stood.
“Madison.”
“She’s six years old,” Madison said rapidly.
“She gets confused.
She makes things up.”
“I didn’t make it up!” Kloe cried.
“You gave it to me in the kitchen.
You said put it in the little zipper and don’t tell.”
Aunt Carol covered her mouth.
Uncle Tom muttered something under his breath.
Grandma simply stared at Madison.
The officer turned to me.
“Did you see the child put something in your backpack?”
“Yes.”
Dad exploded.
“Then why didn’t you say something?”
I looked at him.
“Because I wanted to know what your daughter was trying to do.”
Madison’s eyes flashed.
“You admit it.
You moved the bracelet.”
“I found a jewelry box in a compartment I’d zipped before coming here.
I opened it, saw your bracelet, and moved it into your jacket.”
Mom scoffed.
“Convenient story.”
“Actually,” Hannah said from across the room, “it makes more sense than Madison’s.”
Everyone looked at her.
Hannah had been standing near the dining-room archway with her arms folded.
She continued, “Madison accused Emma almost immediately after announcing the bracelet was missing.
She didn’t search upstairs.
She didn’t check the bathroom.
She didn’t ask the caterers.
She just asked where Emma’s backpack was.”
Madison snapped, “Because Emma had just crashed my party!”
“A party she only knew about because I accidentally told her,” Hannah said.
Mom’s face tightened.
That detail mattered more than I expected.
The officer asked, “She wasn’t invited?”
