Chapter 8
Eleanor did not deny it.
I went to her home before midnight.
She opened the door herself.
Looked at the ring in my hand.
Then said:
“So it finally came back.”
I almost laughed.
Everybody knew more about my husband’s death than his wife.
“Did you open the coffin?”
“Yes.”
No drama.
No excuse.
“Five days after the burial.”
Earlier than Edmund.
“Why?”
“Daniel asked me to.”
My anger changed shape.
She invited me inside.
On the dining table sat an old silver sewing box.
Eleanor opened it.
Inside lay a tiny black metal insert shaped like a narrow braid segment.
The missing piece.
I stared.
“You had it.”
“Yes.”
“For eleven months.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Her face tightened.
“Because Daniel told me not to until the ring returned to you.”
I stood.
Same problem as Samuel.
Dead husband giving living people orders that excluded me.
I loved Daniel.
I wanted to strangle his memory.
Eleanor saw it.
“You have every right to be furious.”
“Good.”
She almost smiled.
Then explained.
Daniel knew the coalition would come for the ring after his death.
He also knew taking the ring directly would reveal too much.
So he instructed Eleanor to open the coffin quietly after burial, remove the insert, reseal everything, and wait.
Let whoever came next believe they had beaten him to it.
Edmund later removed the empty ring.
The coalition received nothing useful.
Eventually desperation would force the ring into Marina’s path.
That was Daniel’s gamble.
“He used his own grave as bait.”
Eleanor nodded.
Typical Daniel.
Brilliant.
Infuriating.
Then she handed me the insert.
I did not take it immediately.
“What does it open?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Daniel tell you?”
“No.”
At least one honest gap.
Then Eleanor gave me something else.
A folded note in Daniel’s handwriting.
For Marina only after the ring returns.
My hands trembled.
I opened it.
Mari,
If you’re reading this, they finally got impatient.
Do not pay the Langs.
Do not trust Julian’s fear.
And whatever you find behind the casino wall—
May you like
believe the voices, not the explanations.
My husband had left recordings.
