Chapter 5
“I attended events on behalf of Aurelia,” Camilla replied.
“Some of them. Others were for jewelry, clothing, and hotel expenses connected to trips where no client meetings took place.”
Camilla’s face flushed. “Julian told me those were approved.”
“Were they?”
She looked at him.
For the first time since I had met her, Camilla appeared uncertain of her footing. The confident woman in the red dress had vanished. In her place was someone who had trusted a story without asking how much of it had been invented.
Julian said, “This is being exaggerated.”
“Were they approved?” Priya repeated.
Camilla lowered her eyes. “Yes.”
“By whom?”
She did not answer.
Daniel reached into the folder and removed a photograph. He placed it on the table, face down.
“The earrings are also relevant,” he said.
My pulse shifted.
Julian’s head turned sharply. “What do the earrings have to do with the audit?”
Daniel looked at me. “Ms. Vance, you reported a pair of diamond earrings missing from your home six weeks ago?”
“Yes.”
“Did you report the loss to your insurance company?”
“I contacted the insurer. They requested a police report, but I didn’t file one because I wasn’t certain they had been stolen.”
Julian’s expression changed.
“Why are you bringing this up?” he asked.
“Because the earrings were purchased through an Aurelia account.”
Camilla reached toward her ears, then stopped herself.
The room went still.
I looked at her. “What?”
Daniel turned the photograph over.
It showed an invoice from a Boston jeweler. The date was six weeks earlier, three days after I had last seen the earrings in my mother’s old jewelry box. The invoice listed a pair of platinum diamond earrings matching their distinctive curved setting.
The purchaser name was not Julian.
It was Camilla Price.
The payment card belonged to Aurelia Systems.
Camilla whispered, “That’s impossible.”
Priya placed a second page beside the invoice. “The card was issued to the communications department. The charge was approved electronically using Mr. Mercer’s credentials.”
Julian pushed back from the table. “I didn’t buy those.”
“No?” I asked.
“I approved a hospitality expense. I don’t inspect every receipt.”
“You approved a five-figure purchase from a jeweler?”
“I thought it was a client gift.”
“To whom?”
He looked at Camilla.
She shook her head slowly. “You told me they were from you.”
“I never said—”
“You said they were a thank-you.”
“For what?”