Page 133 of Gave Proof Through the Night

“I swear on my dad’s honor, I’ve never laid hands on it.”

It’s true. I just don’t mention who I think did it, or why they leave playing cards behind like souvenirs.

“I could call security right now and have you arrested for breaking and entering.”

I shrug. “A little bird sent me a tip. It actually led me straight to your own surveillance system. Funny thing, technology. Records everything, even the stuff you’d rather it didn’t.”

I pull out my phone, thumb the video open, and turn the screen toward him.

It’s a recording of him in the private viewing room the day Ivy, Rue, and Suri met with him to inspect the Friendship Jewel. Except in this version, Zoe completely erased everyone but Hobbs from the footage.

It shows him taking the necklace out of its case and placing it on the velvet tray. Then he opens the cigar box. But it’s not filled with cigars. Instead, it contains the forged necklace, and clear as day, he removes it from the cigar box, putting it in the display case.

In short, it proves Dennis Hobbs stole the Friendship Jewel and replaced it with a forgery.

“This is fabricated.” He’s already reaching for calm and missing it by a mile. “Some kind of deepfake garbage.”

“It’s real footage, Dennis. Pulled straight off your own server. Forensics will back it up any day you want to test that theory.”

Zoe encrypted the footage with the museum's own feed architecture and matched BMAH's timestamps down to the millisecond. My girl is a bonafide genius.

“Sorry but this is you switching out the Friendship Jewel before it even got to the gala.”

I tap the screen once more before I pocket it.

“Okay, I see what game you’re playing. You think you’re soooo clever.” He slow claps. “I really gotta hand it to you. This flair for theatrics would be entertaining if you weren’t so pathetic.”

“I wonder if the museum board will think it’s entertaining when they review you for the director candidacy.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Wouldn’t I? I’m just an anonymous concerned citizen who happened upon this footage on social media.”

I toss a card on the desk with Heath Kane’s name facing up.

Dennis scoffs. “That man is a clown. Disgraced by his own family.”

I shrug. “Maybe you’re right. He only has archived copies of you stealing the Friendship Jewel in a private viewing room.”

“Did he put you up to this?”

“No. But he took a shining to me and told me a really interesting story. How he found Eleanor Armitage’s diary among his grandfather’s private records. How there were letters from Mary Todd Lincoln to her traveling companion tucked within the pages. How he held onto them because he knew the historical significance. He knew their worth. You know how that goes, don’t you, Dennis? The value of leverage?”

I reach into my jacket and slide a folded document across the desk. He doesn’t want to touch it. I watch him lose that particular battle with his own curiosity in under three seconds.

“It’s a notarized statement by Heath Kane about how he made a deal with you. The diary and letters in exchange for your part in exposing the corruption of his family.”

Dennis sinks into the chair across from his own desk like his legs stopped being consulted on the decision.

“He had a lot to say, actually. Fun guy. You see, after his dispute with his father and getting squeezed out of his inheritance, he was ready to take down Whitfield & Kane Trust by proving the fraudulent and predatory loans over several decades. How easy it would have been for someone who, let’s say… someone who worked in the museum to stumble across the diary and expose the truth about the secret donor. Are you writing this down? Because here’s the crazy part. Walter Kane had held onto the Friendship Jewel for twenty years. But because of the historical significance, he couldn’t just sell it. So he donated it for clout.”

Dennis's lips quiver in a hard line.

“Of course, you probably already knew this. Because instead of following through on your deal with Heath, you turned around and leveraged your new diary to press your advantage. A recommendation here, commendation there. Certain influential players bounce your name around the DC circuit. And suddenly, you’re up for director and maybe a future in politics. I mean, this is some crazy Hollywood material.”

Dennis is silent for a long while, just staring at me, chewing his inner cheek.

At length, he puts on a smug facade. “You really think this gives you the upper hand? You are a criminal. You were at the gala.”