Evelyn: Marcus, do something! Push her back down the stairs!
Marcus: Shut up, Evelyn! Look at her phone!
I held up my smartphone, the waterproof screen still glowing brightly under the midday sun. On the display was a confirmed notification from the state probate court, accompanied by a digital signature from Detective Vance of the harbor police.
Cora: The emergency dispatch signal triggered the moment I placed that call, Marcus. The harbor police boat is three hundred yards behind us.
Marcus: What emergency dispatch signal?!
Cora: The satellite tracker installed inside my mother's ruby brooch. My father set it up ten years ago to protect the family estate assets.
Evelyn's hand flew to her chest, her fingers clutching the red gem as if it had suddenly turned into burning iron.
Evelyn: A tracker... inside the brooch?!
Cora: The brooch communicates directly with the maritime trust registry, Evelyn. The moment you put it on, the system flagged your location as an unauthorized possession of stolen property.
Marcus: Cora, please! We can talk about this! I was tricked by Evelyn! She told me you signed a divorce settlement in Chicago!
Cora: You stood right beside her while she pushed me into the ocean, Marcus! You didn't raise a single finger to save me!
Evelyn: Marcus, he's lying! He knew about the offshore transfers! He helped me forge your signature on the corporate deed last week!
Marcus: You lying snake! You told me those were standard tax release forms!
Cora: Both of you can explain your forged signatures to the district attorney.
The loud, rhythmic thumping of helicopter blades echoed across the sky as a blue and white Harbor Police chopper hovered directly above the yacht deck. Red and blue lights flashed from a fast police cutter slicing through the ocean waves toward the bow.
Evelyn: No... no! This can't be happening! I am a Sterling Global shareholder!
Cora: You were a shareholder, Evelyn. Until my lawyer unsealed my father's master trust fifteen minutes ago.
Marcus dropped to his knees on the marble patio deck, his navy suit soaked with spray from the ocean, his face buried in his shaking hands.
Marcus: Cora... I gave you six years of my life! You can't ruin me like this!
Cora: You ruined yourself, Marcus, the day you traded your wife for gold sequins and stolen rubies.