The purchase would not be completed until the auction house verified the funds and reviewed the relevant legal documents. The diamond would remain in secure storage until the transaction was finalized.
Margaret signed the preliminary paperwork and accepted a copy of the sale agreement.
Across the room, Richard Caldwell approached Victoria.
"You have made a serious mistake."
Victoria looked at him.
"Why?"
"You have allowed an unknown woman to acquire a diamond worth forty-two million dollars without fully understanding her intentions."
"She followed the bidding rules."
"That is not the point."
"Then what is?"
Richard lowered his voice.
"If she challenges the ownership history, the Harrington family could face a legal disaster."
Victoria's expression sharpened.
"What do you know about the ownership history?"
Richard hesitated.
"Only what any experienced collector knows. There have always been questions about the diamond's provenance."
"What questions?"
He looked away.
"I suggest you speak to your legal department."
Richard walked out before she could ask another question.
Victoria remained beside the stage, staring at the empty display case.
For the first time in her life, she wondered whether her grandfather's achievements had been built upon a lie.
Later that evening, she summoned Leonard Price to her office.
"Find every document relating to the Star of Aurelia," she instructed. "I want the original acquisition records, the restoration notes, the ownership transfers, and any correspondence mentioning Daniel Ellis."
Leonard frowned.
"That could take days."
"Then start tonight."
He hesitated.
"There may be a problem. The historical records are incomplete. Some documents were transferred to the family estate decades ago, and others may have been lost."
"Find out which ones."
Leonard nodded and left.
Victoria opened a drawer and removed an old photograph of Arthur Harrington. He stood in front of the auction house during its early years, smiling confidently beside a display of gemstones.
She had always regarded the photograph as a symbol of family pride.
Tonight, it looked like a question she could no longer avoid.
Meanwhile, Margaret returned to her small apartment on the Upper West Side. She had lived there for eleven years, occupying a narrow room with a kitchenette and a window overlooking a brick courtyard. The building's elevator often failed, and the radiator rattled throughout the winter.
She placed her handbag on the table and sat down.
The auction had left her exhausted.
She removed the gold ring from her pocket and held it beneath the lamp.
Her father had made it by hand, engraving a tiny star on the surface and a sequence of numbers inside the band. She had never worn it because she feared losing it. Instead, she carried it in a small velvet pouch.
"Father," she whispered, "I hope I have done the right thing."
Her telephone rang.
It was Daniel Foster.
"I have just received an update from the trust," he said. "The initial financial verification has been accepted. We still need to complete the remaining documentation, but the auction house has acknowledged your purchase."