Chapter 10 - someone entered emily's room at 3:14 a.m.)
Emily woke because the mattress moved.
She had chosen one of the guest rooms rather than sleep beside Daniel.
The clock beside the bed read 3:14.
For a moment, she thought she had imagined the sound.
Then she saw a shadow beside the dresser.
Emily sat up.
"Who's there?"
The figure turned.
Daniel.
She reached for the lamp.
Light filled the room.
He stood beside her coat.
"What are you doing?"
Daniel looked exhausted.
"I couldn't sleep."
"So you came into my room?"
"I knocked."
"No, you didn't."
He looked at the nightstand.
Emily followed his gaze.
The brass key lay beside her phone.
Her stomach tightened.
"You came for the key."
"No."
"Get out."
"Emily."
"Get out."
He didn't move.
She grabbed the key.
Daniel lifted both hands.
"I wasn't going to take it."
"Then why are you staring at it?"
"Because I need to know what's in that box as much as you do."
"No. You want to know first."
He looked hurt.
"You don't trust me."
Emily almost laughed.
"You helped your mother stage a scene to make me appear unstable eight hours ago."
Daniel sat on the chair by the window.
"I deserve that."
"You deserve worse than that."
He nodded.
Emily studied him.
"What are you afraid is in the box?"
"I don't know."
"That's not an answer."
He rubbed his palms together.
"My mother called me after we came downstairs."
"When?"
"About one."
"What did she say?"
"She wanted the key."
Emily's grip tightened.
"Why?"
"She said there are things in the box that could destroy the family."
"She keeps saying that."
"I know."
"Did she tell you what?"
"No."
"Did she ask you to steal it?"
Daniel was silent.
Emily stared.
"Daniel."
"Yes."
The word landed heavily.
Emily looked toward the door.
"And here you are."
"I came because I was going to tell you."
"At three fourteen in the morning while standing beside my coat."
He shook his head.
"I can't prove what I intended."
"No. You can't."
Daniel reached into his pocket.
Emily tensed.
He removed his phone.
"I recorded her call."
Emily stared.
"You what?"
"After tonight, I started recording everything."
He placed the phone on the bed.
Emily pressed play.
Margaret's voice filled the room.
You need to get that key before Emily reaches the bank.
Daniel's recorded voice asked, Why?
Because some things cannot be undone once she sees them.
What things?
Margaret paused.
Then said, Ask your father what happened on October seventeenth, 1998.
Daniel's recorded voice said, What happened?
Margaret replied, Clara stopped being an investor and became a threat.
The recording ended.
Emily looked up.
"October seventeenth."
Daniel nodded.
"My father is downstairs."
At three thirty in the morning, they found Robert awake in the library.
He was staring into the fireplace.
Emily placed the phone beside him.
"October seventeenth, 1998."
Robert froze.
Daniel saw it.
"So you know."
Robert closed his eyes.
"Yes."
Emily sat opposite him.
"What happened?"
Robert looked suddenly older than sixty-five.
"Clara discovered the second mortgage."
Emily frowned.
"What second mortgage?"
"Margaret and I borrowed against the property."
"Without Clara?"
"Yes."
"Could you do that?"
"Not legally without her consent if the beneficial agreement had been executed the way Helen Price drafted it."
Emily felt a chill.
"Did you forge her consent?"
Robert shook his head.
"No."
"Then what happened?"
"Margaret produced a document showing Clara had waived her rights."
Daniel asked, "Was it real?"
Robert stared at the floor.
"I believed it was."
Emily felt anger rising.
"Because Margaret told you?"
"Yes."
"Did you ever ask my mother?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because she had stopped speaking to me."
Emily laughed without humor.
"So you accepted the document that benefited you."
Robert looked at her.
"Yes."
Silence.
He did not defend himself.
That made the truth uglier.
"What did Clara do when she found out?"
"She came here."
Margaret had described Clara as obsessed.
Perhaps that night was the origin of the story.
Robert continued.
"She and Margaret argued in the foyer."
Daniel frowned.
"I remember something."
Robert looked at him.
"You were eight."
"I remember shouting."
Robert nodded.
"Clara accused Margaret of forging her signature."
Emily's breath caught.
Forging signatures.
Again.
Same method.
Different generation.
"What did you do?"
"I told Clara to leave."
Emily stared.
Robert swallowed.
"I thought she was angry because of our history."
"So you chose Margaret."
"Yes."
"Again."
"Yes."
Emily stood.
"I need air."
She walked toward the glass doors at the back of the house.
Snow covered the terrace.
Daniel followed but stayed several feet behind.
Emily did not turn.
"My mother tried to warn you."
Robert's voice came from the library.
"I know."
"No. I don't think you do."
She turned.
"You didn't simply fail to protect her investment. You helped convince everyone she was irrational."
Robert's eyes filled.
"You're right."
Margaret's strategy suddenly became clear.
It wasn't new.
Provoke.
Discredit.
Control the story.
Clara had been labeled unstable.
Now Emily was being placed into the same role.
Daniel understood it too.
"My mother did to Emily exactly what she did to Clara."
Robert looked sick.
Emily stared at the brass key.
"Then box 317 isn't only about a house."
"No," Robert said.
"What else?"
Robert's voice was barely audible.
"Proof."
Emily looked at him.
"Proof of what?"
"That your mother was telling the truth."
Upstairs, a door closed.
All three turned.
Margaret stood at the top of the staircase wearing a silk robe.
She had heard everything.
Her expression contained no fear now.
Only cold certainty.
"You want to open that box?" she asked Emily.
Emily met her eyes.
"Yes."
Margaret smiled.
"Then prepare yourself."
"For what?"
May you like
Margaret descended one step.
"To find out why Clara never wanted you to know who your father was."
