Chapter 5 - The Funeral That Wasn't What It Seemed
Carter spent the entire night going through his father's records.
The funeral photographs were still in the family archives.
He found them at 3:14 a.m.
His uncle's coffin.
The flowers.
The guests.
The priest.
Everything looked authentic.
But one photograph bothered him.
The coffin was closed.
His uncle had supposedly died after a sudden illness.
No one had been allowed to see the body.
Carter had never questioned it.
He had been too devastated.
Now he understood why.
Someone had wanted him to believe his uncle was dead.
But why?
At sunrise, Carter found Eleanor awake.
She was sitting beside the window.
“Mom.”
She looked at him.
“You found the letter.”
“Yes.”
“You found the recordings.”
“Yes.”
She looked away.
“There is something else.”
Carter sat beside her.
“What?”
“Your father knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That your uncle wasn't dead.”
Carter stared at her.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Your father told me not to.”
“Why?”
“Because you were young.”
“I was thirty-two.”
“You were still his son.”
Eleanor reached beneath her pillow.
She removed a small cassette.
Carter stared.
“What is that?”
“Your father gave it to me the night before he died.”
Carter found an old player.
The recording began with static.
Then his father's voice.
“If Carter ever discovers the truth, don't tell him everything.”
Carter looked at Eleanor.
His father's voice continued.
“The person controlling this operation has been close to our family for years.”
A pause.
“Closer than anyone suspects.”
The recording ended.
Carter stared at the machine.
“That's all?”
Eleanor nodded.
“Why?”
“Because your father never trusted technology.”
Carter thought of the hidden cameras.
Then he realized something.
The recordings weren't created by his father.
They were created by someone else.
Someone who had access to the mansion.
Someone who knew where every hidden camera was.
Someone who had been watching them all.
Carter opened the security archive again.
The footage from Day 1 began playing.
This time, he watched the background.
Behind Victor stood a woman.
Only for two seconds.
Carter paused the video.
Zoomed in.
The woman was wearing a dark coat.
Her face was partly hidden.
But Carter recognized the necklace.
The same necklace Chloe had worn.
He looked at Chloe.
“You said this belonged to your grandmother.”
Chloe's face went pale.
“It did.”
“Then why is another woman wearing one exactly like it?”
Chloe stared at the screen.
“I don't know.”
Carter zoomed further.
The woman turned.
This time, her face became visible.
Chloe covered her mouth.
“No.”
Carter looked at her.
“You know her.”
May you like
Chloe whispered:
“She was supposed to be dead.”
