Mark stared down at the gleaming white pearls lying on the clean marble floor.
The pearls caught the bright sunlight coming from the hallway window.
This was the exact necklace his late mother had worn on her own wedding day.
It was a custom piece made of rare pearls and worth over fifty thousand dollars.
Mark bent down slowly and picked up the heavy strand with trembling fingers.
The cool stone surface felt familiar and painfully nostalgic against his skin.
Mark: How is this necklace sitting inside this locked room?
Sarah stepped back, her lace dress rustling violently around her ankles.
Her face looked completely white, and her lips were trembling.
Sarah: I have never seen that necklace before in my entire life.
Mark: Stop lying to my face right now, Sarah!
Sarah: I am not lying to you, Mark!
Mark: You told me my mother lost this at the Dallas hospital!
Sarah: Maybe the police found it and put it in storage!
Mark: Storage inside a locked bedroom in my own house?
Mark took a step closer into the dark guest room.
He pushed the white wooden door all the way open against the interior wall.
Sitting on a small wooden chair in the dark room was a middle-aged woman.
She was wearing simple cotton clothes, and her eyes were red from crying.
Mark gasped as he recognized the woman's face immediately.
It was Ellen, his mother's personal lawyer and closest lifelong friend.
Ellen had disappeared shortly after his mother's funeral two full years ago.
Mark: Ellen?
Mark: What on earth are you doing hiding inside this dark room?
Ellen: I was not hiding by choice, Mark.
Sarah: Ellen, keep your mouth shut right now!
Mark: Do not speak to her like that in my house, Sarah!
Ellen: Sarah locked me in this room two hours ago, Mark.
Mark: Why would Sarah lock my mother's attorney inside a guest room?
Ellen: Because I brought your mother's real last will and testament today.
Mark felt his heart drop like a heavy stone into his stomach.
He turned around to face his bride, who was breathing heavily in the hallway.
Mark: What will is Ellen talking about, Sarah?
Sarah: She is confused, Mark!
Sarah: She has been sick and confused for many months now!
Ellen: I am completely sane, Sarah.
Ellen: And I have the legal estate documents right inside my leather handbag.
Mark walked over to Ellen and gently took her hand.
Her fingers were ice-cold, but her eyes were sharp and clear.
Mark: Please tell me what happened to my mother's estate, Ellen.
Ellen: Your mother never left the Dallas house or trust fund to Sarah.
Ellen: Your mother left everything directly to you and your younger sister, Clara.
Mark stared at Ellen in total disbelief.
Mark: Clara went missing three years ago in California!
Ellen: She did not go missing on her own, Mark.
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