Chapter 2 - the blue room)
Daniel waited until Isabella was asleep before searching the house.
Ethan remained on the phone.
"What exactly did she say?"
"That the missing charm is in the blue room."
"Maybe a child's name for somewhere."
"Maybe."
"Attic?"
"No."
"Storage room?"
"There are six."
"Basement?"
Daniel stopped walking.
The Marbella villa did not have a traditional basement.
The property sat on sloping ground, and beneath the western side of the house was a lower service level containing mechanical equipment, wine storage, laundry facilities, and a small corridor used by contractors.
Daniel rarely went there.
He opened the service stairwell.
The lights activated automatically.
He descended.
The lower level smelled faintly of stone and detergent.
"Daniel?"
"I'm downstairs."
He checked the wine room.
Cream walls.
The laundry room.
White tile.
The equipment room.
Gray concrete.
At the far end of the corridor was a door he did not recognize.
It had always been there.
But he realized he had never opened it.
The door was painted navy blue.
Daniel stopped.
"Ethan."
"What?"
"I found it."
"Don't touch anything yet."
Daniel stared at the handle.
"Too late."
He opened the door.
Inside was a small storage room.
Blue walls.
Shelving.
Old patio cushions.
Cleaning products.
A folded sun umbrella.
Nothing alarming.
Daniel switched on every light.
"Looks like storage."
"Search visually first. Don't move things."
Daniel scanned the floor.
Then the shelves.
Near the back wall, beneath a stack of beach towels, something reflected the light.
Silver.
Daniel crouched.
The missing star charm lay beside the wall.
His stomach tightened.
"Found it."
"Photograph it where it is."
Daniel used Isabella's tablet because his phone was still upstairs beside her.
He photographed the charm.
Then the surrounding floor.
Then the room.
Beside the star was a faint scratch in the paint.
Daniel leaned closer.
Not a scratch.
Several.
Short marks near the baseboard.
He stared.
"What do you see?"
"Marks."
"From what?"
"I don't know."
Daniel lifted his eyes.
On a low shelf sat a plastic drinking cup.
Pink.
He recognized it.
Isabella's.
"Her cup is here."
Ethan went quiet.
Daniel stood.
A wicker basket sat in the corner.
Inside was a folded cream blanket.
One of Isabella's blankets.
Daniel stopped breathing.
"Ethan."
"Leave the room."
"What?"
"Leave it exactly as it is."
Daniel clenched his jaw.
"I need to know what happened here."
"And you need whatever happened here to remain provable."
Daniel backed toward the door.
A sound came from the corridor.
Footsteps.
Daniel switched off the light.
He stepped outside.
One of the housekeepers, Rosa, appeared at the far end carrying folded laundry.
She stopped when she saw him.
"Señor Whitmore?"
Daniel forced himself to speak normally.
"Rosa."
Her eyes moved toward the blue door.
Daniel noticed.
"You know this room?"
Rosa hesitated.
"It is storage."
"Does Isabella come down here?"
Rosa gripped the towels.
"I don't know."
"Rosa."
She looked frightened.
Not guilty.
Frightened.
Daniel lowered his voice.
"You've worked for me for five years."
"Yes."
"You knew my wife."
Rosa nodded.
Daniel's late wife, Claire, had hired Rosa when Isabella was three.
Claire had died in a car accident eighteen months later.
Afterward, Rosa had become part housekeeper and part silent guardian of the routines Claire had left behind.
Daniel stepped closer.
"If something has happened to Isabella, I need the truth."
Rosa's eyes filled.
"I tried."
Daniel froze.
"Tried what?"
"To tell you."
He stared at her.
"When?"
"Three months ago."
"I never received anything."
"I sent you an email."
Daniel's pulse accelerated.
"What did it say?"
"That Señorita Beatriz was changing."
"Changing how?"
Rosa looked toward the staircase.
"She became angry when Isabella asked for you."
Daniel felt sick.
"What else?"
"She told us not to interfere with discipline."
"Us?"
"Me. Mateo. Lucia before she left."
"Why did Lucia leave?"
Rosa stared at him.
"She did not leave."
Daniel's voice hardened.
"What do you mean?"
"Señorita Beatriz dismissed her."
"She doesn't have authority to fire my employees."
"She said you approved it."
"I didn't."
Rosa covered her mouth.
Daniel looked toward the dark corridor.
"Where is Lucia now?"
"I don't know."
"Find her number."
"I have it."
"Send it to me."
Rosa nodded.
Then she looked at the blue door.
"There is something else."
Daniel waited.
Rosa lowered her voice.
"Two weeks ago, I heard Isabella crying down here."
Daniel's hands curled into fists.
"I came downstairs."
"What happened?"
"The blue door was locked."
Daniel stared at the handle.
There was no visible lock.
Rosa pointed.
"From outside, you use a key."
Daniel inspected the frame.
A small magnetic latch had been fitted inside.
Almost invisible.
"When I asked what was happening," Rosa continued, "Beatriz told me Isabella was having a tantrum and needed time alone."
Daniel's breathing became slow and controlled.
"How long was she inside?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"Beatriz ordered me to leave the house."
Daniel looked at the silver star still lying on the floor.
His daughter's bracelet had broken in this room.
Her cup had been left here.
Her blanket had been left here.
And the camera outside the corridor was dead.
"Ethan."
"I'm here."
"Call someone."
"Who?"
"Someone who can document everything."
"Good."
"And Ethan?"
"Yes?"
Daniel looked at Rosa.
"Find out who has administrator access to my security system."
Rosa suddenly made a small sound.
Daniel turned.
"What?"
She was staring at the ceiling.
A camera sat above the lower hallway.
Its light was dark.
May you like
But beside it, partially concealed behind an air vent, another tiny lens reflected the light.
A camera Daniel had never installed.
