Chapter 3 - the child in the chapel
Julian struck the chapel door with his shoulder.
“Get the key!”
Claire ran toward the service corridor while Julian looked through the stained glass again. The room beyond appeared empty.
There was no girl.
There was no gloved hand.
Only white flowers and an aisle waiting for a bride.
Marcus approached from the main hall.
“What are you doing?”
“There was a child inside.”
“There are several children at the wedding.”
“She was alone.”
Marcus tried the handle.
“The chapel has been locked since the flowers were delivered.”
“I saw her through the window.”
Claire returned with Mrs. Bell, the elderly housekeeper who had worked at Ashford House since Julian was a child. She carried a ring of iron keys.
Mrs. Bell unlocked the door.
Julian entered first.
He searched behind the pews, beneath the choir balcony and inside the small rooms near the altar. No one was there.
Claire found something near the stained-glass window.
A child-sized silver shoe.
The sole was covered with gray dust.
“This did not come from the garden,” Claire said.
Mrs. Bell took the shoe and examined it.
“No,” she said quietly. “It came from below.”
Marcus looked toward the altar.
“There is no basement entrance in the chapel.”
Mrs. Bell did not answer.
Julian faced her.
“You know something.”
She held the shoe against her chest.
“When St. Agnes was open, the children were not allowed in the main house. They used passages inside the eastern walls.”
“I have lived here my entire life. There are no passages.”
“There were. Your father sealed them.”
“Why?”
Mrs. Bell looked at Marcus before speaking.
“Because a girl disappeared.”
Marcus gave an impatient laugh.
“We do not have time for old stories. Guests are arriving.”
Julian stepped closer to Mrs. Bell.
“What girl?”
“I don’t know her name. I was young. Your father ordered every passage closed and every basement room emptied.”
“Did the girl have dark hair?”
Mrs. Bell looked toward the stained-glass window.
“They all had dark hair.”
Marcus touched Julian’s shoulder.
“You are getting married in less than two hours. Let security search the house.”
Julian removed Marcus’s hand.
“I want the eastern basement opened.”
Marcus’s expression hardened.
“The police will ask why we keep sealed records from a closed children’s home beneath the property. Is that how you want your wedding reported?”
“I don’t care about the newspapers.”
“The foundation’s donors will.”
Claire moved between them.
“A child may be trapped in this house.”
Marcus looked at her.
“Or someone is trying to frighten Julian before he signs the new foundation agreement.”
Julian narrowed his eyes.
“What agreement?”
Marcus hesitated.
Then Julian remembered.
The marriage contract contained a clause allowing Elena to act as an emergency trustee of the Ashford Foundation if Julian became unable to serve.
“You prepared that document,” Julian said.
“At your request.”
“At Elena’s request.”
“You approved it.”
Julian’s phone vibrated again.
The unknown sender had sent a photograph.
It showed Elena entering the eastern basement at 2:13 that morning.
She was not alone.
Marcus walked behind her.
Julian slowly lifted his eyes.
Marcus saw the image and went still.
“I can explain.”
“Start now.”
“I received an alert from the archive. Elena was already there when I arrived.”
“Why didn’t the security camera show you leaving?”
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
“Because the system failed.”
“For eleven minutes.”
“Yes.”
“Exactly long enough for you to enter without recording what happened next.”
Claire took Julian’s phone and enlarged the picture.
“There’s someone else.”
A shadow appeared near the edge of the frame. It was the outline of a small child being pulled through the basement doorway.
Julian turned toward Marcus.
“Who was she?”
“I did not see a child.”
“You were standing three feet away.”
“I said I did not see her.”
Julian took a step forward.
Mrs. Bell suddenly gasped.
Everyone turned.
A line of dark liquid was spreading beneath the altar.
For one terrible second, Julian thought it was blood.
Mrs. Bell knelt and touched it.
“Water,” she said. “Cold water.”
The liquid was seeping through a crack between the stone tiles. Beneath the sound of the approaching wedding musicians, Julian heard something else.
Three soft knocks.
A pause.
Three more knocks.
They came from under the chapel floor.
Julian dropped to one knee.
“Can you hear me?”
The knocking stopped.
Then a child’s voice rose faintly through the stone.
“Please don’t let the bride find me.”
Marcus backed toward the door.
Julian stood.
“Claire, stay with Mrs. Bell.”
“Where are you going?”
“To find the basement entrance.”
“Elena will notice you’re missing.”
May you like
Julian looked directly at Marcus.
“That may be the only way to discover what she does next.”
