Hannah hired a local records researcher to dig into the estate’s history. The paper trail pointed to Maeve Ellis, a woman who had worked as Evelyn’s live-in housekeeper for nearly thirty years until she was abruptly let go six months before Evelyn passed away.
Hannah tracked Maeve down to a modest retirement apartment on the south side of town. Over tea, the elderly woman identified the ring immediately from a photograph.
“Evelyn’s husband gave that to me in 1968,” Maeve explained quietly. “They ran out of money to pay my wages for two whole years during the real estate crash. He couldn’t pay me in cash, so he gave me his mother’s ring as security. But after he died, Evelyn took it back out of my dresser. She claimed a servant had no right to hold real gold.”