Chapter 3 - Emily’s Torn Handbag
Margaret found Emily’s handbag beside a service road three miles from the mansion.
The leather strap had been cut.
The lining was torn.
Her wallet remained inside, along with cash, identification, and the keys to her car.
Robbery had not been the motive.
Margaret called the police.
The responding officer suggested Emily might have dropped the bag during an argument.
Margaret refused to leave.
She searched the grass with a flashlight.
Near a drainage ditch, she found the broken head of a golf club wrapped in fabric from Emily’s blouse.
There was no sign of Emily.
Only tire tracks.
Margaret recognized the club immediately.
It came from the custom set Brad kept in the mansion’s private sports room.
His initials were engraved near the neck.
Margaret placed the object inside the handbag without touching the exposed metal.
Then she found a recorder sewn into the inner lining.
Emily had hidden it there weeks earlier.
The device was still active.
Margaret did not listen immediately.
She drove to a retired friend who worked in digital forensics.
He copied the file, preserved the original, and warned her that the recording could be dangerous.
“What’s on it?” Margaret asked.
Her friend’s expression tightened.
“Enough to make someone kill for it.”
That was when Margaret learned the party had begun.
Brad was standing beneath chandeliers, celebrating ownership of Emily’s company while Emily remained missing.
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Margaret did not call him.
She went directly to the mansion.
