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Simone sighed in resignation before taking a seat on a stool that had been tucked in behind the counter. She leveled a stare at Phoebe.
"I wasn't technically following Jenna around town," Simone denied as she unconsciously picked at her dark green nail polish. "Jenna took something from me, and I wanted it back."
Simone's expression hardened, which told Phoebe there was more to the story than stolen property. Simone had to be mistaken, though. Jenna wouldn't have stolen anything. Then again, Phoebe had been left questioning if she ever really knew her sister at all.
"Jenna stole a necklace from my purse," Simone said in a flat tone, as if she didn't want them to see how hurt she had been by such misconduct. "It...meant a lot to me. I wanted it back."
"Simone, say I believe you," Phoebe said, unable to fathom that she was even entertaining the thought her sister would be that vindictive. And over what? Ethan had obviously wanted to be with Jenna, not Simone. "Why would Jenna take a necklace from your purse?"
"I don't know." Simone narrowed her pale icy eyes as if she wanted to say something mean, but she must have changed her mind after glancing toward Chloe. "I don't know, Phoebe. I never got an explanation from her."
"Did you ever confront Jenna about it?"
Simone met Phoebe’s gaze.
"Once. Jenna swore she didn't take it, though."
"And you never found any proof to the contrary?"
"Other than catching your sister rummaging through my purse? No," Simone replied sarcastically. "Jenna wouldn't admit to taking the necklace, and it wasn't like I was going to go and tell the world that I…"
"That you still cared for Ethan," Chloe finished with understanding. “He gave you a necklace, didn’t he?”
"What was it you said about heartbreak?" Simone gave a rather bitter smile. "First love, first heartbreak...it skews one's perspective. A few weeks later, I heard that Jenna had drowned in some accident. No offense, but I knew then that I wasn't going to get my necklace back."
"There was no necklace in Jenna's room," Phoebe shared with Simone, pausing long enough to choose her next words carefully. "Are you sure someone wasn't trying to frame my sister?"
"You're making me feel as if I'm tainting the memories you have of Jenna.” Simone shrugged off Phoebe’s question. "You're her baby sister. You're supposed to look up to her, but I won't lie to preserve whatever pedestal you've put her on. Jenna stole my necklace. Period."
"Did you tell this to Ethan back then?" Chloe asked as she closed the binder. "Does he know that Jenna stole the necklace that he gave you?"
"I haven't spoken to Ethan since the day he told me it was over." Simone slipped off the stool before giving them a pointed look. "Are we done here?"
"I do have one more question for you." Phoebe figured she was pushing her luck, but she wasn't so sure Simone would give them any more of her time after today. "When you were trying to get your necklace back from Jenna, did you notice anyone else following her? Or maybe notice anything odd?"
Simone frowned, looking down at Chloe's hands as she began to put on her gloves. It was apparent that Simone was attempting to recall details from over a decade ago.
"Not really," Simone responded after a long pause. "I do remember seeing Jenna at the hospital a few days after she stole my necklace. And just to be clear, I wasn't following her that day, either. My brother had broken his leg and needed surgery. I was walking out the front entrance with my mom, and we both saw Jenna entering through the other double doors."
"You didn't talk to Jenna? Ask why she was there?"
"No," Simone replied with a wry laugh. "Why would I? Besides, Jenna was with Alice Hart. I don't need to tell you that I didn't run with either crowd."
The bell above the entrance rang as two young men walked into the tattoo shop. The bitter cold air came with them, but it was their appointments that had basically wrapped up the conversation with Simone. She greeted them before meeting Phoebe's gaze.
"You never really came right out and asked, but I will answer you anyway so that there are no misunderstandings," Simone said before gesturing that the young men should enter the back of the shop. She waited to speak until they had disappeared behind the black curtain. "The last time I saw Jenna was at school the Friday before she drowned in that pond. Whatever you think might have happened, I had nothing to do with it."
Phoebe was mad at herself for how their conversation had gone, and she was grateful that Chloe hadn't attempted to film their discussion. Phoebe wasn't even able to thank Simone for talking to them. The black curtain fell into place as the tattoo artist went to tend to her customers.
"Oh, Pheebs," Chloe said gingerly as she looped her arm around Phoebe's elbow. "I guess it could have gone worse."
"...come on, slowpoke!" Jenna called out with a laugh.
Phoebe could remember that fateful day with such clarity.
When Jenna had turned to walk backward, the necklace she had been wearing hadn't moved with the momentum. The silver edge had gotten stuck in the knitted material of her scarf. What were the odds that the same necklace Jenna had been wearing that day was the same one she had allegedly taken from Simone?
"I'm not so sure about that, Chloe," Phoebe said as they exited the tattoo shop. "Why do I feel like I know even less about my sister than before?"
