Chapter 6 — June Answers the Email
Claire no longer wanted to wait.
She finished the email that evening.
Michael sat beside her.
She did not soften the story.
She explained that Helen found the bracelet in her own camera case.
She included a photograph.
She included Helen’s note.
And she apologized for contacting June so many years late.
The reply arrived the next morning.
It contained only four sentences.
Claire, I wondered whether Helen ever found it.
I knew I hadn’t taken it, but after enough people looked at me differently, knowing wasn’t always enough.
I will be at the reunion.
Bring the bracelet.
Claire read the message twice.
Then Michael noticed something.
“She said she wondered whether Helen ever found it.”
Claire nodded.
“Meaning?”
“Maybe June knew more than Grandma did.”
Claire contacted her again.
This time June agreed to speak on the phone.
Her voice was warm but guarded.
Claire asked:
“Did you know the bracelet was in Helen’s camera case?”
June was silent for several seconds.
“Not exactly.”
Then she explained something nobody in Claire’s family knew.
On the night of the dance, June had borrowed Helen’s evening bag.
That was why another student saw her holding it.
Helen had asked June to retrieve lipstick.
When June opened the bag, the bracelet wasn’t inside.
She assumed Helen had already moved it.
After the dance, when Helen accused her, June tried explaining.
Helen didn’t listen.
Then June remembered seeing Helen carrying her camera case earlier in the evening.
Helen frequently moved valuables into it because it zipped securely.
“Did you tell her to check?” Claire asked.
June laughed sadly.
“Three times.”
Helen never did.
She was too certain the bracelet had been in the evening bag.