Chapter 3 - The First Lie
Victoria disappeared before Mark could confront her.
By morning, her bedroom was empty.
But her car remained outside.
That meant she was somewhere inside the mansion.
Mark ordered the staff to search every accessible room.
They found nothing.
His attorney obtained an emergency order allowing the police to inspect the locked space beneath the west staircase.
At eight forty-five, two officers, Mark, and the locksmith gathered before the red door.
The locksmith inserted his tools.
After thirty seconds, he frowned.
"What?"
Mark asked.
"This lock has already been changed."
"When?"
"Recently."
"How recently?"
"Hard to say. But the screws are clean. Maybe yesterday."
Mark felt cold.
"Open it."
The locksmith worked.
A minute passed.
Two.
Then the mechanism clicked.
The door opened.
Behind it was not a stairwell.
It was a wall.
Fresh drywall.
Mark touched it.
The surface was still dusty.
One officer looked at the other.
"This was built recently."
Mark turned.
"Break it."
They removed the drywall.
Behind it was another wall.
Old brick.
Solid.
No doorway.
No electrical equipment.
Nothing.
Mark stared.
Lily had said she heard a woman.
Claire said something was wrong with the room.
Victoria had lied for years about what was inside.
But the search revealed only a sealed brick wall.
Victoria appeared at the far end of the hallway.
"I told you."
Mark turned slowly.
"Where were you?"
"My room."
"We searched your room."
"The dressing closet."
One officer approached.
"Mrs. Hale, we need to speak with you."
Victoria gave a weary smile.
"Of course."
She answered every question calmly.
Claire had been unhappy.
Claire disliked living in the mansion.
Claire had spoken about leaving Mark.
Claire had argued with Victoria that afternoon.
Claire had stormed out.
Mark listened.
Every sentence was carefully constructed.
Every sentence was almost believable.
Then one officer asked, "What were you arguing about?"
Victoria hesitated.
"The child."
Mark looked at her.
"What about Lily?"
Victoria sighed.
"Claire accused me of frightening her."
"Did you?"
"No."
"Did you tell Lily her mother would disappear if she spoke to Mark?"
Victoria laughed.
"Of course not."
Lily was brought into a separate room with a child specialist.
She repeated her story.
Victoria had taken her near the red door.
Victoria asked if she could hear someone.
Later Lily heard Claire arguing with Victoria.
Then Victoria told Lily not to say anything.
It was not enough for an arrest.
But it was enough to deepen suspicion.
At noon, Mark received Claire's phone records.
Her last outgoing call had been to him at three fifteen.
Her last incoming call had arrived at three twelve.
From the house.
The mansion's internal line.
Specifically extension 14.
Mark asked security where extension 14 was located.
The technician checked the old wiring plan.
Then frowned.
"That's strange."
"What?"
"Extension 14 shouldn't exist anymore."
"Where was it?"
The technician enlarged an archived architectural drawing.
A tiny room appeared beneath the west staircase.
Mark leaned closer.
"There."
The technician shook his head.
"That room isn't on the current plans."
"What happened to it?"
"It was removed during renovations."
"When?"
"About eighteen years ago."
Mark felt a chill.
"Who authorized the renovation?"
The technician searched.
Then looked at him.
"Your father."
Mark studied the old plan.
There had once been stairs behind the red door.
Not a brick wall.
A staircase descended beneath the mansion.
The current wall was a deception.
Mark looked toward the ceiling.
"There's another entrance."
The technician stared at him.
"If the old room still exists, there almost has to be."
They searched the plans.
Twenty minutes later, they found it.
A service corridor connected the hidden basement to a storage room beneath the kitchen.
Mark ran.
The door to the storage room was locked.
He kicked it once.
Twice.
On the third attempt, the frame cracked.
The room was empty.
Shelves.
Wine crates.
Cleaning supplies.
Nothing else.
Then Mark noticed scratches on the floor.
A shelving unit had been moved repeatedly.
He pulled it aside.
Behind it was a steel panel.
Locked.
He called for the officers.
Before they reached him, every light in the mansion went out.
Lily screamed upstairs.
Mark ran.
May you like
By the time emergency lighting activated, he reached the hallway.
Lily was gone.
