Chapter 3 - ROOM 27
Clara left the ballroom through a servants’ passage and hurried downstairs.
The staff nursery was empty.
Crayons lay scattered across the table.
A blue ribbon rested on the floor.
“Emma?”
No answer.
Clara ran into the corridor.
“Emma!”
Rosa, the nursery attendant, appeared from the laundry room holding folded towels.
“Why are you shouting?”
“Where is my daughter?”
Rosa’s expression changed.
“She was here.”
“She isn’t now.”
“I only stepped away for a minute.”
Clara grabbed her shoulders.
“Who came into the room?”
“No one.”
“Think.”
Rosa’s face paled.
“A woman from the family’s staff. She said Mr. Valmont wanted the child brought upstairs.”
“What woman?”
“I don’t know her name. She wore a red brooch.”
Clara released her.
The torn photograph of Vivian flashed through her mind.
In the picture, Vivian had worn a red brooch shaped like a rose.
Clara ran.
She passed kitchens and storage rooms, searching every doorway. At the end of the western corridor, she heard Emma’s voice.
“Mommy said I can’t go with strangers.”
Clara followed the sound to a narrow staircase.
At the top stood a locked door marked 27.
Emma was on the other side.
“Emma!”
“Mommy!”
Clara pulled the handle.
Locked.
She struck the wood with both hands.
“Open this door!”
A woman spoke from inside.
“Show me the rabbit.”
Emma began to cry.
“No!”
Clara stepped back and slammed her shoulder against the door. Pain exploded through her arm.
The woman inside spoke more sharply.
“Give it to me.”
“Daddy said Blue is mine.”
Clara hit the door again.
The frame shook.
“Emma, move away from the door!”
She kicked beside the lock.
The old wood split.
On the third strike, the door burst inward.
The room beyond was dark and filled with covered furniture. Emma stood near the window, holding the rabbit behind her back.
A woman in a black staff dress stood in front of her.
The woman turned.
Clara did not recognize her.
But she recognized the red rose brooch pinned above the woman’s heart.
Clara crossed the room and pushed her away from Emma.
“Who are you?”
The woman stumbled into a table.
“I was told to bring the child upstairs.”
“By whom?”
“I don’t know.”
“You tried to take her toy.”
The woman’s hand moved toward her pocket.
Clara saw the metallic flash of a blade.
Before she could react, Marcus Vale entered behind them.
He grabbed the woman’s wrist and twisted it until the knife fell.
The stranger fought with surprising skill, striking Marcus beneath the chin. He recovered, drove her against the wall, and locked her arms behind her back.
“Who sent you?” he demanded.
The woman smiled.
Then bit down.
Her body convulsed.
A white substance appeared at the corner of her mouth.
Within seconds, she collapsed.
Clara covered Emma’s eyes.
“What happened?”
Marcus checked the woman’s pulse.
“She’s dead.”
Clara stared at him.
“She killed herself over a toy?”
“It isn’t a toy.”
Marcus locked the door and pulled back one of the dusty curtains. Behind it was a steel panel with a circular indentation.
Three narrow blades had been engraved inside the metal.
The same symbol hidden in the rabbit’s torn ear.
Clara held Emma tighter.
“What is that?”
Marcus looked at the number painted above the panel.
May you like
27.
“It is the reason your husband died.”
