Chapter 5 - The Woman in the Green Room
The hotel went into lockdown.
Every employee on duty was questioned. Security footage showed a catering worker bringing the cart through the service elevator, but no one could identify him.
His uniform had been stolen.
His face had been hidden beneath a cap and surgical mask.
By noon, Detective Cross had requested federal assistance.
Charles refused.
“This concerns my family.”
“It concerns an attempted murder, three deaths, arson, a missing woman, and someone who penetrated a secure hotel,” Cross said. “Your family stopped being the only concern last night.”
Charles stood near the window overlooking the city.
“Noah cannot become a public spectacle.”
“He already became a target.”
Evelyn sat at the table examining the photographs recovered from the fireproof box.
Most showed Eleanor during the final years of her life. In several, she appeared weak and thin. Margaret Vale was often beside her.
One photograph showed Eleanor entering a private medical clinic.
Another showed Marcus’s father, Robert Blackwood, speaking to a uniformed police officer outside the same building.
Evelyn turned the photograph over.
November 18.
The day Adrian disappeared.
“Noah said the recording answered questions,” she said. “That means it may not be a simple recording.”
Charles looked toward her.
“What are you thinking?”
“Your mother created something interactive.”
“In fourteen-year-old equipment?”
“She had access to Blackwood Technologies.”
Charles frowned.
The technology division had once developed military voice-recognition systems. Most of its work had been classified or quietly sold.
Evelyn examined the cassette tapes.
Each was labeled with a number.
There were forty-three in total.
One tape was labeled Green Room Core.
Charles found an old cassette player through hotel management.
When the tape began, Eleanor’s voice filled the suite.
“This is Eleanor Blackwood. Core sequence begins with identification.”
A series of numbers followed.
Then questions.
Who are you?
What is your age?
Is Charles alive?
Is Noah alive?
Did the east wing burn?
Evelyn and Charles exchanged a look.
The recording paused after each question as though waiting for an answer.
Noah entered from the bedroom.
“That’s not how it sounded in the green room.”
“What was different?” Evelyn asked.
“It knew my name.”
He took the player and pressed stop.
“You need the machine.”
“What machine?”
“The desk in the hidden room.”
Charles looked toward the distant smoke rising over Blackwood Manor.
“The east wing collapsed.”
“Not all of it,” Noah said. “The green room is under the old nursery. The fire was above it.”
Detective Cross refused to allow Charles or Noah back onto the estate.
Evelyn persuaded her to permit a small search team.
At four that afternoon, Evelyn returned to the ruins wearing a hard hat and breathing mask.
The manor’s east wing was blackened and unstable. Water covered the marble floors. Smoke rose from broken beams. Firefighters guided her through a servants’ corridor that had survived behind thick stone walls.
Noah’s bedroom was gone.
His bed, bookshelves, and windows had fallen into the floor below.
But the wardrobe wall remained partially standing.
A firefighter pried open the hidden panel.
Behind it, a narrow stairway descended.
The air grew colder with every step.
At the bottom stood a green door untouched by fire.
The brass key opened it.
Inside, the wallpaper was dark emerald. A portrait of Eleanor hung above the fireplace. Shelves held files, reel-to-reel tapes, and small electronic components.
On the desk sat a machine built into a wooden cabinet.
It had a microphone, tape drives, and a row of lights.
Evelyn pressed the main switch.
Nothing happened.
Then one green light flickered.
A soft mechanical hum filled the room.
Eleanor’s recorded voice spoke from hidden speakers.
“State your name.”
“Evelyn Hart.”
The machine clicked.
“Voice not recognized.”
“My name is Evelyn Hart. I saved Noah from the east wing.”
A pause.
Then another light came on.
“Is Noah alive?”
“Yes.”
“Is Charles alive?”
“Yes.”
“Is Victoria alive?”
“I don’t know.”
The machine clicked rapidly.
“Is Adrian present?”
“No.”
A longer pause.
“Then the wrong brother has come first.”
Evelyn moved closer to the desk.
“What does that mean?”
Tape reels turned behind a glass panel.
“The man called Marcus is not Robert Blackwood’s son.”
Evelyn stared at the machine.
“Who is he?”
“Identity uncertain.”
“Is he Adrian?”
“No.”
“Who is Adrian?”
“Identity protected.”
“Who tried to kill Noah?”
The machine fell silent.
Then a drawer beneath the desk opened automatically.
Inside was a file marked THE FIRE CONDITION.
Evelyn reached for it.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs.
She turned.
A firefighter stood in the doorway.
But it was not one of the firefighters who had entered with her.
The man closed the green door behind him.
Then he removed his helmet.
May you like
Marcus Blackwood looked at her across the room.
“You should have stayed at the foundation,” he said.
