Chapter 8 - The Burglary That Never HappenedThe condominium was in Savannah.
Two bedrooms.
River view.
Fully furnished.
Paid for partly with proceeds traced to sold trust property.
Loretta had signed the purchase documents through an LLC.
More important was what investigators found in her email.
A draft insurance claim.
Never submitted.
It described a fictional burglary at Briarwood.
Date blank.
The list of “stolen” objects included fourteen pieces.
Nine were already missing or replaced.
Kiara stared at the document.
“She was going to pretend someone broke in.”
Detective Bell nodded.
“That’s the working theory.”
“And collect insurance?”
“Potentially more than three million dollars based on proposed updated values.”
“On property she already sold.”
“Yes.”
Kiara sat back.
The upcoming insurance inspection made sense now.
Loretta wanted higher valuations documented before reporting the loss.
The fake objects would have to survive inspection long enough to support the inventory.
Then, sometime afterward, the mansion would be “burglarized.”
Replicas disappear.
Insurance claim.
No originals to inspect.
Double profit.
Sale proceeds plus insurance proceeds.
Malik breaking the fake vase created two problems.
First, the replica itself could be examined.
Second, he had already seen boxes leaving the house.
Loretta did not know exactly what he understood.
So she terrorized him.
A nine-year-old became the unpredictable variable in a multimillion-dollar fraud.
Kiara felt nausea.
Bell continued.
“We also found photos of several rooms.”
“So?”
“They appear staged.”
“How?”
“Camera positions, inventory labels, measurements.”
“Planning what a burglar would take?”
“Possibly planning how to make the scene look credible.”
Kiara looked toward the foyer.
Her home had been mapped for a fake crime.
Loretta had planned to make Kiara believe strangers violated the house.
Then probably comfort her through it.
The betrayal had layers.
Julian Pike finally agreed to cooperate.
He admitted he knew Loretta lacked clear authority.
He claimed she convinced him Everett’s trust was “family paperwork” that Kiara would never enforce.
He accepted commissions on every sale.
He also sourced reproductions.
“How much did he make?” Kiara asked.
“About $190,000.”
“And Loretta?”
“Roughly $1.34 million in traceable proceeds so far.”
“Out of $2.6 million in value?”
“Private sales were below appraisal.”
Kiara closed her eyes.
Loretta had sold her family’s history at discounts to get cash quickly.
Not because she needed food.
Not because she faced homelessness.
Because she believed she was entitled to it.
Julian also provided one disturbing detail.
Loretta had wanted the insurance claim filed before the end of the quarter because her legal fund was nearly exhausted.
The trust challenge had already cost more than $280,000.
“She spent stolen money trying to prove the property should belong to her,” Kiara said.
Bell nodded.
“And then planned to steal more.”
“Yes.”
Kiara laughed without humor.
Malik entered later carrying a school worksheet.
“Can you help me?”
Kiara closed every file.
“Absolutely.”
Math.
Fractions.
Twenty minutes.
No phone.
No Loretta.
No art theft.
Just fractions.
Malik finally looked at her.
“Are you going to work?”
“After this.”
“You always say that.”
Kiara paused.
He was right.
Her mind was rarely where her body was.
She closed the laptop entirely.
“No. Not tonight.”
“Why?”
“Because tonight I’m here.”
Malik shrugged like it was not important.
Then moved his chair closer.
That movement mattered more than anything he could have said.
The next morning, Kiara woke to seven missed calls from Miriam.
She called immediately.
“What happened?”
“Loretta filed something.”
“The trust lawsuit?”
“No.”
“What?”
“A petition seeking to remove you as trustee.”
Kiara stood.
“On what grounds?”
Miriam’s voice hardened.
“Failure to safeguard trust property.”
Kiara almost dropped the phone.
Loretta had stolen the collection—
and was now arguing that Kiara should lose control because the collection disappeared under her watch.
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The same crime Loretta committed was being used as evidence against Kiara.
And one exhibit attached to the petition was a photograph of the shattered vase.
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