Chapter 6 - the story the child remembered
Mrs. Bell led Julian and Nora deeper into the passages.
They emerged inside an abandoned linen room on the second floor. Dusty sheets covered the furniture, and the only window faced the rear gardens.
From there, Julian could see guests gathering beneath a glass canopy while rain fell across the lawns.
The ceremony was supposed to begin in twenty minutes.
Claire slipped into the room and locked the door behind her.
“You found her.”
Nora moved behind Julian.
Claire lowered her voice.
“My name is Claire. I’m Julian’s sister.”
“I know,” Nora said.
Claire looked surprised.
“Aunt Elena has a picture of you.”
“Where is your aunt?”
Nora’s expression fell.
“I don’t know.”
Julian gave Claire the recorder.
As she listened, the color drained from her face.
“We take this to the police.”
“Marcus controls estate security,” Julian said. “If he sees us leave, he’ll move Elena.”
“Then we send the recording.”
“The signal is being blocked. I already tried.”
Claire checked her phone.
No service.
Nora sat on the edge of an old trunk, gripping the remaining silver shoe.
Julian crouched in front of her.
“I need you to tell us everything from the beginning.”
Nora glanced at the door.
“Aunt Elena said I wasn’t allowed to come to the wedding.”
“Why?”
“She thought Evelyn might be watching her.”
“Where were you staying?”
“With Mrs. Hale.”
Claire recognized the name.
“Elena’s former teacher.”
Nora nodded.
“Yesterday, a driver came. He said Aunt Elena wanted me here because she had a surprise. But when we arrived, Evelyn was waiting.”
“Had you seen Evelyn before?”
“Once. A long time ago.”
“What happened?”
“She told me she was my mother.”
Julian and Claire exchanged a glance.
“Is she?” Julian asked.
Nora stared at the silver shoe.
“Aunt Elena says being someone’s mother is more than being in a picture.”
Julian did not press her.
“Did Evelyn hurt Elena?”
“No. She made her drink something that made her sleepy. Marcus carried her downstairs.”
“Where?”
“I followed them through the wall. They found me near the room with the blue door.”
“There are no blue doors in the basement,” Claire said.
“It’s inside the wall.”
Nora continued.
“Evelyn said they only needed Elena alive until after the wedding. Marcus asked why. She said they might need her fingerprints.”
Julian felt sick.
The registrar was waiting downstairs with legal documents.
“Evelyn intended to use Elena’s hand while she was unconscious,” Claire said.
“Or duplicate the print,” Julian replied.
Nora reached into her dress pocket and removed a small key.
“This fell from Marcus’s coat.”
Stamped into the metal were the words EAST ARCHIVE 3.
Claire looked at Julian.
“The foundation archive only has two rooms.”
“Then the third is hidden.”
A loud announcement echoed through the mansion.
The wedding coordinator was asking guests to take their seats.
Nora suddenly grabbed Julian’s hand.
“Don’t go upstairs.”
“I have to stop the ceremony.”
“That’s what Evelyn wants.”
Julian looked at her.
“She wants everyone watching you,” Nora said. “So Marcus can open the room downstairs.”
The archive.
Julian understood.
Evelyn had never expected the ceremony to proceed normally. The wedding was a distraction designed to place every guest and employee in the chapel while Marcus entered the sealed archive.
“What are they looking for?” Claire asked.
Nora shook her head.
“Evelyn called it the Mother Ledger.”
Mrs. Bell, who had remained near the window, turned sharply.
“What did you say?”
“The Mother Ledger.”
Mrs. Bell sat down as though her legs had lost their strength.
“That was the name the children gave it.”
Julian waited.
“The director of St. Agnes kept two sets of records,” she explained. “The official files listed abandoned children. The second ledger listed the families who purchased their identities.”
“Purchased?”
“Some infants were given to wealthy couples. Other identities went to adults who needed new lives. Children were moved, renamed and erased.”
Claire looked horrified.
“What does that have to do with Julian’s father?”
Mrs. Bell’s eyes filled with guilt.
“He discovered the ledger. He promised to expose everyone named inside.”
“Why didn’t he?”
“He died three days later.”
Julian’s father had supposedly suffered a heart attack at forty-eight.
“Are you saying he was killed?”
“I am saying the only doctor who examined him had once served on the board of St. Agnes.”
The chapel music began.
A different voice came through the mansion’s speaker system.
Elena’s voice.
“Julian,” she announced calmly. “Please come to the chapel.”
Nora rose from the trunk.
“That isn’t for the guests.”
“What is it?” Julian asked.
“A warning.”
The speaker crackled.
May you like
Evelyn spoke again.
“And bring the child with you.”
