OFFICER JAMES CARTER: "Please include the relevant policy in the information provided to the regional office."
MARCUS ELLIS: "I will."
VICTORIA LANGLEY: "Are we going to spend the entire afternoon discussing paperwork?"
OFFICER JAMES CARTER: "The documentation is important."
VICTORIA LANGLEY: "For one brief incident?"
OFFICER JAMES CARTER: "For an incident involving a physical confrontation, yes."
Victoria looked toward Emily's hair, which had become slightly untidy where she had been grabbed. The sight irritated her because it reminded her that the event had happened in front of witnesses and could not simply be erased.
She wanted the room to move on.
She wanted everyone to accept that the disagreement was over.
But Emily had requested a formal record, and the officers were not prepared to dismiss that request merely because Victoria considered it inconvenient.
For the first time, the heiress was beginning to understand that the consequences of an action were not determined solely by the person who performed it.
They were also shaped by the evidence, the people who witnessed it, and the rules that applied afterward.
Emily remained near the consultation area, waiting for the meeting to resume. She had no interest in making Victoria more uncomfortable than necessary. She had no desire to provoke another argument.
But she would not allow the incident to become an excuse for abandoning the work she had come to do.
There were documents that needed to be reviewed. There were questions about the company's practices that still needed answers. And there were people whose experiences deserved to be examined without assumptions about their appearance or financial position.
The confrontation had interrupted that work.
It had not changed its purpose.
A member of the store's administrative staff appeared at the end of the management corridor. She carried a dark leather folder and a slim briefcase, both secured with simple clasps. She looked toward Marcus and then toward Emily, confirming that the people she had been instructed to meet were present.
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT: "Mr. Ellis, the documents for the scheduled meeting have arrived."
Marcus turned toward her.
MARCUS ELLIS: "Thank you. Please place them on the consultation table."
The assistant approached and set the folder down carefully.
Victoria watched the exchange with growing irritation.
VICTORIA LANGLEY: "What is all that supposed to be?"
Marcus glanced at Emily before answering.
MARCUS ELLIS: "The materials for the meeting."
VICTORIA LANGLEY: "What meeting?"
Emily stepped toward the folder.
EMILY PARKER: "The meeting I came here to attend."
Victoria gave a disbelieving laugh.
VICTORIA LANGLEY: "You expect us to believe that you have official business with this company?"
Emily opened the folder and checked the documents inside. She moved through the first few pages, verifying the labels and signatures, then closed it again.
EMILY PARKER: "You do not have to believe anything. The appropriate representatives can confirm the arrangements."
Victoria looked toward Marcus, expecting him to dismiss the claim.
Instead, he seemed increasingly uncertain about what he was witnessing.
MARCUS ELLIS: "Ms. Parker, I was not informed of the full details of your meeting. I understand that the regional office arranged it, but I have not yet received the complete briefing."
EMILY PARKER: "That is understandable. The regional representative will explain the scope of the meeting when she arrives."
Victoria's expression changed.
VICTORIA LANGLEY: "The regional representative?"
Emily nodded.
EMILY PARKER: "Yes."
VICTORIA LANGLEY: "Why would a regional representative arrange a meeting with you?"
Emily placed the folder on the table.
EMILY PARKER: "That is something we can discuss when everyone who needs to be present has arrived."
Victoria stared at her.
The woman in the beige cardigan had answered every question without sounding nervous or uncertain. She seemed entirely comfortable with the documents, the meeting, and the fact that senior representatives were on their way.
Victoria could not reconcile that confidence with the assumptions she had made when she first saw Emily standing beside the handbag display.
She looked toward the entrance again.
A black sedan had just pulled up outside.
The driver stepped out and opened the rear door. An older man in a tailored navy suit emerged, straightening his burgundy tie before walking toward the boutique. His silver hair was neatly combed, and he carried himself with the quiet assurance of someone accustomed to entering important rooms without needing to announce his arrival.
Emily saw him through the glass doors.
Her expression changed only slightly, but the tension in her shoulders eased.
The man approached the entrance, checked his phone, and pushed open the glass door.
Richard Hawthorne stepped into Bellgrave House.
He looked first at Marcus, then at the two police officers, and finally at Emily.
RICHARD HAWTHORNE: "Emily, I've been looking for you."