Chapter 11 - The Secret Behind the Wall
They returned to Montgomery House before dawn.
Nora had never felt more like a stranger inside her childhood home.
Every room held a memory.
Every memory now felt suspicious.
Julian and David searched the hallway while Daniel examined the old photographs.
Nora stood outside her father's bedroom.
She remembered sleeping in the room across from it as a child.
She remembered hearing arguments through the wall.
She remembered her father telling her never to enter his room.
Now she understood why.
David found the hidden mechanism.
A small panel opened.
Nora inserted the key.
The wall moved.
A narrow door appeared.
Inside was a room filled with boxes.
Documents.
Hard drives.
Photographs.
Letters.
And a single wooden chair.
Nora stepped inside.
Julian followed.
There was one photograph on the desk.
It showed Charles, Eleanor, Daniel, and another man.
Nora picked it up.
Who is that?
Daniel approached.
His face changed.
That's Robert Vance.
Julian stared.
My father.
Nora looked at him.
Robert was the third person in the original photograph.
Daniel nodded.
He was the one who discovered the money transfers.
Then why did Charles blame you?
Because Robert knew something about Charles.
Something that could have ended everything.
Nora opened a box.
Inside were letters.
The first was addressed to Eleanor.
The second to Daniel.
The third to Robert.
She opened Robert's letter.
It contained only one sentence.
If I disappear, trust no one who claims to know why.
Julian's face went pale.
My father knew.
Nora opened another document.
A list of payments.
Millions of dollars.
Names of companies.
Government officials.
Private security firms.
And one final account.
The account holder was listed as Nora Montgomery.
She dropped the paper.
My name.
David picked it up.
This account was opened before you were born.
Nora stared.
Why would someone put money in my name?
Daniel answered.
Because someone wanted you to inherit more than money.
What?
Information.
Nora opened another box.
Inside was a small cassette recorder.
She pressed play.
Her grandmother's voice filled the room.
Nora, if you are listening to this, I have failed to protect you from your father's secrets.
Nora's eyes filled with tears.
The recording continued.
Your father is not the only person responsible.
There is someone above him.
Someone who has protected him for decades.
The tape crackled.
And if that person discovers that you have found this room, they will come for you.
Nora looked at David.
Who could be above my father?
The tape continued.
There is one name I never wrote down.
Because writing it would have put you in danger.
A pause.
Then the voice returned.
You will know the name when you see the blue door.
The recording ended.
Nora looked around.
There was no blue door.
Then Julian noticed something.
The wooden door leading into the archive had been painted over.
Underneath the paint was a faint strip of blue.
He touched it.
Nora whispered.
The blue door.
Julian opened it.
Behind it was another room.
But it was empty.
Except for one envelope.
Nora picked it up.
Her name was written on it.
May you like
And beneath her name was a second name.
Julian Bell.
