Chapter 3 - The Door Beneath the Snow
The police kept everyone outside while they searched the cabin and surrounding property.
Nathan called two attorneys.
Claire complained that her clothes were being ruined.
Diane said almost nothing.
Sophie remained near the ambulance until Walter was transported to Briarwood Medical Center. Before the doors closed, he regained consciousness for only a few seconds.
“The recorder,” he whispered.
“Marjorie Lane?” Sophie asked.
Walter’s eyes filled with terror.
“She found the second deed.”
Then the paramedic moved Sophie away.
Officer Ruiz instructed Nathan, Claire, and Diane to leave the property pending investigation. Nathan refused until Ruiz warned him that one more step toward the cabin would result in arrest for trespassing and obstruction.
They finally returned to Nathan’s black SUV.
Before entering, Nathan looked at Sophie over the roof.
“This isn’t over.”
“For once, we agree,” Sophie replied.
His expression darkened.
Diane took the front passenger seat. Claire sat in the back, hugging her coat around herself.
As Nathan reversed, Sophie noticed a long scratch along the SUV’s right side. Pale blue paint marked the deepest section.
She photographed it before they disappeared down the driveway.
Officer Patel saw her.
“What caught your attention?”
“Paint.”
“From what?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Patel followed her gaze toward the forest.
The rear tire tracks remained visible beneath the new snow. They were wider than the SUV’s tires but not wide enough for a large truck.
A utility vehicle, perhaps.
Or an old Jeep.
The officers searched the cellar first.
The room beneath the cabin was larger than Sophie had realized. Stone walls supported heavy beams darkened by age. Shelves held empty canning jars, rusted tools, and boxes left by Elias Ward.
In the center sat the chair where Walter had been tied.
A battery lantern lay on the floor. Its plastic casing had cracked.
Blood marked one wall.
Near the rear foundation, a small window stood open.
Whoever imprisoned Walter had escaped through it before emerging somewhere behind the cabin.
There was no blue door.
Ruiz photographed everything.
“Did your closing attorney have a key?”
“Walter had temporary access during the inspection period,” Sophie said. “All exterior locks were changed after closing.”
“Who changed them?”
“The real estate agent arranged a locksmith.”
“Name?”
“Lucas Grant.”
Ruiz wrote it down.
Sophie studied the stone wall.
One section behind the shelves appeared cleaner than the rest, as if boxes had recently been moved. She shifted a wooden crate.
Behind it was a metal plate bolted into the stone.
A keyhole sat in the center.
Officer Patel stopped her before she touched it.
“Let forensics handle that.”
Sophie stepped back.
“Could that be the blue door?”
“It’s gray.”
“Paint fades.”
Patel crouched near the plate without touching it. A thin line of blue remained around one hinge.
Diane had known.
Sophie was certain now.
After the police finished their initial search, they allowed Sophie to collect personal belongings but advised her not to remain overnight. The cabin had become a crime scene, and someone familiar with the property was still unaccounted for.
Ruiz offered to arrange a hotel.
Sophie refused.
She drove directly to the hospital.
Walter was in surgery for a skull fracture and internal bleeding. No visitors were permitted.
In the waiting room, Sophie called Rebecca Ward.
The seller answered after three rings.
“Sophie? Is everything all right with the cabin?”
“No.”
Rebecca listened while Sophie explained the forged filing, Walter’s abduction, and the hidden metal door in the cellar.
For several seconds, Rebecca said nothing.
“Did your uncle ever mention a blue door?” Sophie asked.
“My uncle barely spoke during the last two years of his life.”
“Did he know my father?”
“Yes.”
The answer came too quickly.
“How well?”
Rebecca sighed.
“I don’t know. They worked together decades ago. Your father occasionally visited.”
“Did he visit alone?”
“Usually.”
“What happened at the cabin?”
“I was a teenager. Adults never explained anything.”
Sophie looked through the hospital windows at the falling snow.
“Rebecca, someone forged my signature and tried to transfer the cabin to my family. Walter was tied beneath the house. Whatever you know matters.”
Another silence followed.
Then Rebecca lowered her voice.
“My uncle told me never to sell to a Bennett.”
Sophie’s grip tightened around the phone.
“But you sold it to me.”
“I didn’t know your last name when you first contacted me. By the time I realized, you had already made the offer.”
“You could have refused.”
“I almost did.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because my uncle’s instructions changed before he died.”
Sophie stood.
“What did he say?”
“He said that if Thomas Bennett’s middle daughter ever came looking for the cabin, I should let her buy it.”
Sophie’s breath caught.
“Why?”
“He said it was the only way to return something that had been stolen.”
The waiting room seemed to narrow around her.
“What was stolen?”
Rebecca began to answer, but a crash sounded on her end of the call.
“Rebecca?”
No response.
Sophie heard rapid breathing.
Then a man’s voice, distant but clear.
“Put the phone down.”
The call ended.
Sophie immediately dialed again.
No answer.
She contacted emergency services in Oregon and gave them Rebecca’s address from the closing documents.
Officer Patel called less than ten minutes later.
“We found the rear vehicle.”
“Where?”
“Half a mile beyond the creek. It’s an old blue Jeep registered to Walter Shaw.”
“That explains the paint on Nathan’s SUV.”
“Possibly. The Jeep’s driver-side door is crushed.”
“Nathan hit it.”
“We need evidence before conclusions.”
“What else did you find?”
Patel hesitated.
“Blood in the cargo area.”
“Walter’s?”
“The lab will determine that.”
Sophie closed her eyes.
“Someone used Walter’s Jeep, held him beneath the cabin, and escaped before police arrived.”
“That’s one possibility.”
“And my family arrived at exactly the same time.”
“Yes.”
“Are they suspects?”
“Everyone connected to the property is being investigated.”
Sophie heard voices near the hospital entrance.
Nathan entered with an attorney.
He saw her and stopped.
Sophie ended the call.
Nathan approached with the calm confidence he used when he believed another person’s authority protected him.
“My lawyer says you need to surrender the keys until the ownership dispute is resolved.”
“Your lawyer is wrong.”
“You’re going to lose the cabin.”
“You forged my signature.”
Nathan smiled.
“Prove it.”
Sophie looked at the scratch on his SUV through the glass doors.
“I intend to.”
His smile faded.
Before he could reply, a nurse appeared from the surgical corridor.
“Ms. Bennett?”
Both Sophie and Nathan turned.
The nurse looked between them.
“Mr. Shaw is awake. He asked for Sophie Bennett.”
Nathan’s attorney placed a hand on his arm, but Nathan pulled away.
“He’s confused. I should be present.”
The nurse shook her head.
“He specifically said no other Bennetts.”
Sophie followed her through the secure doors.
Walter lay beneath white blankets, his head bandaged, monitors surrounding him. His skin was gray with exhaustion.
Sophie sat beside him.
“Who did this?”
Walter looked toward the door.
“They’ll come back.”
“The police are here.”
“The police can’t protect what they don’t understand.”
“What is behind the blue door?”
Walter’s eyes closed.
“Records.”
“What kind of records?”
“Your father’s.”
Sophie leaned closer.
“Why were they hidden beneath my cabin?”
“Because the cabin was never supposed to be sold.”
“But Rebecca’s uncle told her to sell it to me.”
Walter’s eyes opened again.
“Elias knew the deadline was coming.”
“What deadline?”
“The trust.”
Sophie remembered Diane’s words on the porch.
Money that should have benefited all of us.
“What trust?”
Walter struggled to breathe.
“Thomas created it before you were born.”
“Why didn’t it appear in probate?”
“Because it wasn’t part of his estate.”
“How much money?”
Walter did not answer.
“Who was the beneficiary?”
His hand moved beneath the blanket.
Sophie leaned closer to hear him.
“You,” he whispered.
A monitor began to beep faster.
Walter grabbed her wrist with surprising strength.
“But the money isn’t the reason they’re afraid.”
“What are they afraid of?”
He stared at her with one bloodshot eye.
“The names behind the blue door.”
Then the alarms sounded.
Nurses rushed into the room and pushed Sophie into the corridor.
As the door closed, she saw Nathan standing at the far end of the hall.
May you like
He had heard enough.
And he was already running.
