The guests at Lord Fenwick’s estate murmured as the missing brooch was discovered in Miss Ellery’s handbag. She paled, shaking her head. “I didn’t take it.”
Mr. Carlyle, an observant scholar, studied the scene. The handbag had been left on her chair while she danced. Lord Fenwick himself had “discovered” the stolen brooch within.
Carlyle frowned. The clasp was unbroken, yet Fenwick had pried the bag open as if certain of what he’d find. His gaze shifted to the brooch itself, glinting under the chandelier.
Something clicked. “Lord Fenwick,” Carlyle said. “You lost this brooch days ago, didn’t you?”
Fenwick stiffened. Carlyle continued, “You planted it to frame Miss Ellery. But you betrayed yourself—if you truly ‘discovered’ it, how did you know to open her bag first?”
The silence was damning. Miss Ellery exhaled shakily as the air shifted with unspoken apologies. Fenwick slumped in defeat. The game was over.
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