Chapter 4 - Someone in the Walls
Daniel ordered the entire mansion searched.
Security guards opened closets, checked unused fireplaces, examined attic crawl spaces, and searched the cellar until after dark.
They found no woman.
They did find evidence that someone had been living inside Whitmore House.
In a narrow maintenance passage between the nursery and west wing, Marcus discovered a folded blanket, two empty water bottles, and a silver hairpin.
Daniel recognized the hairpin immediately.
He had given it to Amelia on their tenth anniversary.
“It could have been there for years,” Marcus said.
“The water bottles are new.”
“We are testing them for prints.”
Daniel looked down the passage.
It was barely wide enough for an adult to crawl through. Old electrical wires ran along the timber beams. At the far end, darkness swallowed the tunnel.
“How many of these passages exist?”
“According to the original plans, twelve.”
“How many are monitored?”
“None. We did not know they were accessible.”
Daniel turned on him.
“You are the head of security.”
“And this house was built in 1891.”
“Someone has been entering my sons’ bedroom.”
Marcus’s expression hardened.
“I know.”
“Find them.”
Daniel returned to the nursery.
Ethan and Noah sat on the rug while Mara folded clothes into the dresser.
Daniel had ordered her to leave the boys alone.
Neither she nor the twins had listened.
“Mrs. Finch needs you downstairs,” he said.
Mara closed the drawer.
“No, she doesn’t.”
Ethan looked between them with interest.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“I need to speak to my sons privately.”
“They asked me to stay.”
“They are children.”
“They are frightened children.”
“They are my children.”
Mara’s eyes flashed.
“Then stop interrogating them like suspects.”
Daniel’s anger rose.
“Leave.”
Mara set the folded shirt on the bed.
“Noah has spoken more today than he has in months. Ethan put down a knife because I did not treat him like a criminal. If you force them to speak now, they will stop speaking entirely.”
“You know nothing about my sons.”
“I know they believe someone comes through that wall.”
Daniel followed her gaze to the carved wooden panel beside Amelia’s portrait.
Noah had drawn a black circle around it with crayon.
Daniel knelt before him.
“Is that where the woman comes from?”
Noah looked at Mara.
She nodded gently.
“You can tell him.”
Noah whispered, “Sometimes.”
“Only at night?”
Another nod.
“What does she do?”
“She watches us.”
Daniel swallowed.
“Does she hurt you?”
Noah shook his head.
Ethan said, “She tells stories.”
“What stories?”
“About Mom.”
Daniel looked at Mara.
She appeared as disturbed as he felt.
“What does she say about your mother?”
Ethan’s expression became guarded.
“That she didn’t die because of the rain.”
Daniel went cold.
The official report blamed wet roads, low visibility, and excessive speed.
“What else?”
“That she was trying to get home.”
“She was driving away from Boston.”
“Not this home.”
Mara’s breath caught.
Daniel heard it.
He turned to her.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“You reacted.”
“Because your son is frightened.”
“No. Because you understood.”
Ethan stood between them.
“Stop yelling at her.”
Daniel looked down at his son.
Ethan’s small fists were clenched.
“She didn’t do anything.”
“You do not know who she is.”
“I know she stays.”
The words silenced the room.
Mara looked away first.
Daniel’s voice softened.
“What did the woman in the wall look like?”
Noah pointed toward Amelia’s portrait.
“Like Mommy.”
Ethan shook his head.
“Not exactly.”
“What was different?”
“She had a line on her face.”
He traced a finger from his temple to his jaw.
A scar.
Daniel stood quickly.
He remembered a woman from Amelia’s funeral.
She had stood beyond the cemetery gates beneath a black umbrella.
At the time, Daniel assumed she was a reporter.
The woman had possessed the same scar.
“Did she tell you her name?”
Ethan opened his mouth.
A loud crack came from the wall.
The carved panel swung inward.
Beyond it was a dark passage.
A shadow moved.
Daniel lunged forward.
The hidden figure fled into the tunnel.
Marcus shouted from the corridor as Daniel climbed through the opening.
The passage was narrow and black. Daniel scraped his shoulder against the timber as he crawled after the sound of retreating footsteps.
“Stop!”
The figure moved quickly.
Daniel saw the flash of a gray dress.
Then the passage split.
A heavy board struck his arm.
He fell against the beams.
By the time Marcus reached him, the tunnel was empty.
But a small envelope had been pinned to the wall with Amelia’s silver hairpin.
Daniel tore it open.
Inside was a photograph of Mara entering Whitmore House that morning.
May you like
On the back, someone had written six words.
She came to finish Amelia’s work.
