Chapter 5 – "My Mom's Melted Diamond Ring Just Destroyed Their Perfect Alibi"
Morning came too quickly.
Evie had slept in fits, waking every hour to the sound of her own heartbeat. By the time the sun rose over the backyard, she was already dressed in the shelter's donated clothes, her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail.
Miriam was already in the kitchen, making coffee. She looked up when Evie entered.
"Early riser," she said. "Good. There's toast and eggs in the kitchen. Help yourself."
Evie sat down at the small table. A woman she hadn't met before—thin, with bruised wrists and a haunted expression—sat across from her, staring blankly at a cup of tea.
"Fresh in?" the woman asked.
"Last night."
The woman nodded. "First night's always the hardest. You'll get used to it. Eventually."
"How long have you been here?"
"A while." The woman wrapped her hands around her mug. "I've been here before. Keep leaving and coming back. It's a cycle."
Evie didn't know what to say to that.
The morning passed in a haze. She helped with chores—sweeping, dusting, washing dishes. The other women kept their distance. There was a strict code of privacy in the shelter, a understanding that you didn't ask questions about people's pasts.
Around eleven, Miriam appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. "Evie. There's someone here to see you."
Evie's heart stopped. "Who?"
"Detective Thorne."
She found him in the living room, standing awkwardly in front of the television. He looked even more tired than he had the day before, and his jacket had a fresh coffee stain on the sleeve.
"Good news and bad news," he said. "Which do you want first?"
Evie sat down on the couch. "Bad."
"Your parents hired one of the best defense attorneys in the state. He's already made calls to the fire department and the police department, trying to slow down the investigation. He's arguing that the fire was accidental and that you're making up stories because of the trauma."
Evie's jaw tightened. "And the good news?"
"The fire investigators found something." Thorne sat down across from her. "They found evidence of an accelerant in the kitchen. Not just the usual stuff—your parents had a gas stove, that kind of thing. They found traces of a commercial-grade accelerant. The kind you'd use to deliberately start a fire."
Evie felt her breath catch. "Someone poured gasoline in the kitchen."
"Looks like it." Thorne leaned forward. "We also found something else. Your mother's ring—the diamond one she always wears—was found in the kitchen. It was melted, but the lab was able to identify it."
Claire's ring. Evie remembered it. A large diamond that had been in the Vance family for generations. Her mother never took it off.
"The ring was in the kitchen," Thorne said. "Which means either your mother was in the kitchen when the fire started, or someone took her ring and planted it there."
Evie's mind raced. "She wouldn't have been in the kitchen. She barely cooks. She's never in the kitchen."
"Then someone planted it."
"Who?"
Thorne spread his hands. "That's what we're trying to figure out. The ring was on the floor near the stove. It was partially melted. But the fire was hot enough to melt gold—so if the ring was there, it should have been completely destroyed. The fact that it was still recognizable suggests it was placed there after the fire started, or that it was shielded from the worst of the heat."
Evie stared at him. "You're saying someone put my mother's ring in the kitchen to make it look like she was there."
"That's one theory." Thorne paused. "Or she put it there herself."
"She wouldn't."
"Are you sure? Because her alibi is shaky. She claims she drove to a friend's house. The friend confirms she was there, but only after midnight. The fire started around 11:30. She could have driven to the house, started the fire, and then driven to her friend's."
Evie shook her head. "That's not right. Mom isn't capable of that."
"Capable of what?"
May you like
"Of trying to kill me." Evie's voice cracked. "She might be cold, she might be calculating, but she wouldn't—"
"Evie, your door was locked from the outside. The key was from your mother's cabinet. And her ring was found in the kitchen." Thorne's voice was gentle, but relentless. "We have to consider every possibility."
