Chapter 3 - The Brass Key
The passage behind Peter’s office had been built during Prohibition.
Emily’s grandfather used it to move liquor between the library and the wine cellar when Ashford Manor belonged to a senator with expensive secrets.
Emily had explored the passage as a child.
She remembered every turn.
At least, she thought she did.
The narrow corridor should have descended toward the library.
Instead, she found a newly installed steel door blocking the staircase.
A brass lock sat beneath the handle.
Emily looked at the key Lydia had given her.
It fit.
The lock clicked.
Beyond the door was not the library passage she remembered.
It was a renovated corridor with fresh electrical wiring, security cameras and reinforced walls.
Someone had spent a great deal of money hiding this section of the house.
Emily moved carefully.
Voices echoed from behind a door at the far end.
Helen.
Calvin Shaw.
And another man whose voice Emily did not recognize.
“The transfer must happen before the board receives notice of her promotion,” Shaw said.
Helen replied, “Her promotion changes nothing.”
“It strengthens her legal capacity and gives Beck a reason to examine her finances.”
“She has been away for eighteen months. We have everything we need.”
“What about the child?”
Helen’s answer came without hesitation.
“Peter will contest custody.”
“On what grounds?”
“The psychiatric report. Abandonment. Infidelity.”
A chair scraped against the floor.
The unknown man spoke.
“The fabricated DNA test was reckless.”
“It removed her from the property.”
“It also creates a paper trail.”
“A temporary risk.”
Emily pressed closer to the door.
Shaw lowered his voice.
“Harrison is becoming difficult.”
“Then increase his medication.”
Emily nearly gasped.
Harrison Vale.
Her father’s cofounder.
Peter told her Harrison had died after a stroke.
The unknown man said, “And the woman in the cottage?”
Helen’s voice sharpened.
“She is not your concern.”
“She has been your concern for twelve years.”
Emily stopped breathing.
Twelve years.
Her mother, Elaine, had died twelve years ago when her car supposedly plunged from a bridge during a storm.
No body had been recovered.
Emily had always believed the river carried it away.
A phone rang inside the room.
The unknown man answered.
After a brief silence, he said, “We have a problem. Emily’s rental car was seen near the estate.”
Helen stood.
“Search the house.”
Emily backed away from the door.
Footsteps approached.
She turned and ran quietly through the corridor.
At the steel door, she heard men entering the passage behind her.
She locked it from the opposite side and continued toward the library.
A hand suddenly reached from the darkness and pulled her behind a bookcase.
Emily nearly struck the person before recognizing Lydia.
“Don’t make a sound,” Lydia whispered.
The concealed panel closed just as two security guards entered the library.
Lydia led Emily through a side door and into the conservatory.
“What did you hear?” she asked.
“Harrison is alive.”
Lydia nodded.
“And there’s a woman in the cottage.”
Lydia’s face went pale.
“You weren’t supposed to hear that.”
“Who is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“You gave me the key.”
“Because I wanted you to find the transfer documents, not the lower corridor.”
“Why are you helping me?”
Lydia glanced toward the hallway.
“Because your family’s company doesn’t belong to Helen.”
“My family?”
Lydia reached into her blouse and removed a folded photograph.
It showed Emily’s father, Daniel Carter, standing beside Harrison Vale and a third person.
Elaine Carter.
Emily’s mother.
All three stood in front of a sign reading Carter Vale Biomedical Research.
Emily stared at the picture.
“My mother was a nurse.”
“That’s what Helen wanted everyone to believe.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Elaine was one of the company’s founders.”
Emily shook her head.
“No. She worked at St. Matthew’s Hospital.”
“She worked there after she left the company.”
“Why would she leave?”
“Because someone tried to kill her.”
The conservatory doors opened.
Grant stepped inside.
Lydia hid the photograph.
Grant looked at Emily, then at his wife.
“You need to go,” he said.
Emily waited for him to call security.
Instead, he handed her a small memory drive.
“I copied the financial records last month.”
Lydia stared at him.
“You said you were too afraid.”
“I was.”
Grant looked toward the hall.
“I still am.”
Emily took the drive.
“Why now?”
“Because Helen told Peter to take Maisie.”
A cold wave moved through Emily.
“Where is he?”
“Looking for you.”
“My daughter is with someone he doesn’t know.”
“You think he doesn’t know Captain Ruiz?”
Emily’s face changed.
Grant lowered his voice.
“Your phone has been monitored for months.”
Emily reached for her device.
A message had appeared from Nora.
Peter is outside.
May you like
Then another.
He brought the police.
