Chapter 4 - Fire in the Greenhouse
Emma raced down the service staircase.
The mansion staff were gathered in the kitchen, distracted by the arrival preparations. No one noticed her slip through the rear door.
Rain struck her face as she ran across the lawn.
The west greenhouse had been unused since Celeste’s death. Vines covered its iron frame, and several glass panels were cracked. Smoke poured through the broken sections of the roof.
Someone had set a fire inside.
Emma pulled her sleeve over her hand and yanked the door open.
Heat rushed toward her.
Dry wooden tables burned along the left wall. Old gardening curtains had caught fire, creating a barrier of flame between the entrance and the rear storage section.
Elias had said the room no longer existed.
Emma searched the walls.
Nothing.
Then she saw a brass plate half-hidden beneath ivy.
The keyhole matched the key in her pocket.
She inserted it.
The plate released with a click.
A narrow section of brick wall moved inward.
Behind it was a steel door with a keypad.
Emma unfolded the paper.
04 17 09 26 11 03
Six pairs of numbers.
The keypad accepted only six digits.
She tried the first number from each pair.
40917.
A red light flashed.
Wrong.
The smoke thickened.
She coughed and looked at the numbers again.
Dates?
Letters?
04 was D.
17 was Q.
09 was I.
26 was Z.
11 was K.
03 was C.
D Q I Z K C.
Meaningless.
Unless they were reversed.
03 11 26 09 17 04.
C K Z I Q D.
Still meaningless.
Emma remembered the music box.
The lullaby had six notes before repeating.
Maybe each pair corresponded to notes on a numbered music roll.
She had no time.
Fire spread across the ceiling.
She entered 417926.
Wrong.
Then she noticed the numbers had tiny dots between them, almost invisible where the ink had faded.
04.17.09.26.11.03.
Dates.
April 17.
September 26.
November 3.
Three dates.
Celeste’s birthday was April 17. Emma remembered seeing it on a memorial plaque.
Lily’s birthday was September 26.
What happened on November 3?
Emma entered 041703, combining Celeste’s month and day with the final date’s month.
Wrong.
She coughed harder.
A beam cracked behind her.
The flames were closing in.
Emma shut her eyes and pictured the music box.
The initials C.C.
Celeste Callahan.
Lily’s full name was Lillian Rose Callahan.
The numbers might correspond to letters in the names.
04 was the fourth letter of Celeste: E.
17 exceeded the length.
Not that.
She looked at the keypad.
The numbers had letters beneath them like a telephone.
04 was not a key but perhaps a page number.
The notebook.
Lily’s notebook had drawings.
Six numbers could refer to pages and objects.
There was no time to retrieve it.
Emma heard glass shatter behind her.
Elias Boone appeared through the smoke with a fire extinguisher.
“You came back,” she shouted.
“I never left.”
He sprayed the burning curtain.
“What is the code?”
“Celeste changed it before she died.”
“She left these numbers.”
Elias glanced at the paper.
His eyes widened.
“That isn’t a code.”
“What is it?”
“Those are camera numbers.”
He pointed at the keypad.
“Enter 1103. That was Lily’s nursery camera.”
Emma typed 1103.
The steel door unlocked.
They stumbled inside and pulled it closed behind them.
The hidden room was narrow and windowless.
Metal shelves lined the walls.
Most were empty.
A desk stood in the center beneath a layer of dust.
On it sat an old computer monitor, a digital recorder, and three sealed evidence bags.
Emma approached the desk.
One bag contained a broken diamond bracelet.
She had seen Renata wearing its matching half.
The second held a bloodstained strip of cream fabric.
The third contained a small memory card.
Elias picked up a handwritten note.
“Celeste wrote this.”
Emma read over his shoulder.
If I am gone, the cameras will tell the truth. Do not trust the main server. Mirror Room Archive B. The person watching Lily is also watching Grant.
Emma looked at the computer.
“Can it still work?”
Elias pressed the power button.
Nothing happened.
“The fire may have cut the electricity.”
A heavy impact sounded against the hidden door.
Someone was outside.
Elias turned off his flashlight.
Another impact shook the frame.
“Who knows we’re here?” Emma whispered.
“Renata.”
The lock began to turn.
Elias gripped the fire extinguisher.
The door opened.
A security officer stood outside.
It was Mason.
Smoke curled around him.
He looked at Emma, Elias, and the evidence bags.
May you like
Then he raised a handgun.
“Step away from the desk.”
