Chapter 6 - The Blue Room
Daniel entered the house through the garage.
He did not turn on the lights.
He went straight to the basement.
At the end of the hall stood a blue door.
Locked.
He reached into his pocket.
No key.
He searched again.
Then cursed.
Sarah had hidden it.
Daniel tried the handle.
Nothing.
He ran upstairs for tools.
Twenty minutes later, Rebecca and Ethan arrived at the house accompanied by Rebecca's investigator, a retired detective named Owen Price.
Rebecca had called him from the hospital parking lot.
She had also obtained an emergency protective order preventing Daniel from approaching Ethan or Sarah while the circumstances of Sarah's confinement were examined.
When they pulled into the driveway, Daniel's car was gone.
"Stay with Owen," Rebecca told Ethan.
"No."
"Ethan."
"Mom told me about the room."
Rebecca looked at Owen.
He nodded.
"Let him come downstairs. He stays behind us."
The basement smelled of damp concrete and old wood.
At the end of the hall, the blue door stood open.
Splintered.
Rebecca stopped.
"He got here first."
Inside was a narrow room lined with shelves.
Boxes had been pulled open.
Papers scattered across the floor.
A metal cabinet stood against one wall.
Its door had been forced open.
Empty.
Daniel had taken something.
Ethan stepped inside.
His eyes moved across the room.
"This wasn't like this before."
"You've been inside?"
"Once. With Mom."
Rebecca turned.
"When?"
"Last Christmas."
"What was here?"
"Grandpa's papers. Mom said they were family things."
Owen examined the shelves.
"Someone removed files recently."
Ethan walked toward an old wooden desk.
The top drawer hung open.
He touched it.
Then frowned.
"Mom showed me a trick."
Rebecca came closer.
Ethan pushed the drawer all the way in, then pressed a carved wooden flower beneath the desk.
A hidden compartment released.
Inside was a flash drive.
Rebecca stared.
Ethan picked it up.
"Mom said Grandpa liked secret places."
Owen smiled faintly.
"Smart grandfather."
Rebecca inserted the drive into a laptop.
Most folders were financial records.
Some dated back years.
One folder was labeled DC.
Daniel Cole.
Rebecca opened it.
Bank statements.
Property purchases.
Company registrations.
Loans.
Transfers from Sarah's trust.
Then a document appeared containing the names of three corporations.
Alder Financial Consulting.
Northbridge Holdings.
Crown Medical Advisory.
All connected through different intermediaries.
All eventually leading to Daniel Cole and Martin Kessler.
Owen leaned closer.
"This is enough to prove the theft."
Rebecca shook her head.
"Not the coffin."
Ethan pointed toward another folder.
VOICE.
Inside were audio files.
Rebecca clicked the newest one.
Sarah's voice filled the blue room.
It had been recorded two nights earlier.
My name is Sarah Cole. If Rebecca is hearing this, something has happened to me.
Ethan stopped breathing.
Sarah continued.
I discovered Daniel has been moving money from my family's trust. I believe Dr. Martin Kessler is helping him. Daniel has been pressuring me to sign new estate documents. Tonight I found a sedative in my wine.
Rebecca closed her eyes.
The recording continued.
Daniel does not know that my father created a second condition in the trust. If my death is suspicious, or if Daniel is implicated in financial misconduct, he receives nothing. Control transfers to Ethan under Rebecca's supervision.
Owen looked at Rebecca.
"That's why he needed the death to look natural."
The audio ended with one last statement.
If anything happens to me, protect my son.
Ethan's eyes filled.
Rebecca paused the recording.
"We're taking this directly to investigators."
Then Ethan looked toward the doorway.
"Someone's upstairs."
Owen raised a hand for silence.
Footsteps crossed above them.
Rebecca closed the laptop.
Owen moved first.
They climbed the stairs carefully.
The kitchen was empty.
The back door stood open.
On the counter lay a single sheet of paper.
Rebecca picked it up.
It was a photocopy of Sarah's trust amendment.
Across it, Daniel had written one sentence.
You still don't know where the original is.
Owen looked outside.
"No sign of him."
Rebecca's face tightened.
"He came back."
Ethan stared at the message.
"Why does Dad want the original?"
Rebecca did not answer immediately.
Because she was beginning to understand.
The flash drive proved financial theft.
Sarah's testimony proved fear.
But the original trust amendment would determine who controlled forty two million dollars.
If Daniel could destroy it before Sarah recovered enough to testify, he could still fight.
And there was one other problem.
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When Rebecca checked her briefcase for the certified copy she had brought from her office, the folder was gone.
Someone had already taken that too.
