Chapter 6 - The Video That Should Not Exist)
Cole disconnected the computer from every network before opening the second file.
The timestamp was impossible.
Tomorrow.
Christopher stood behind him.
"Could someone have changed the date?"
"Yes."
"Could someone have uploaded this recently?"
"Not if the drive was locked in that safe for three years."
"Unless someone accessed the safe."
Cole looked at him.
"Which we know happened."
Juliette and Grant had both been inside the hidden corridor.
Christopher felt sick.
"Open it."
The screen turned black.
A man's voice began speaking.
No face appeared.
"Christopher, by the time you see this, Juliette will either have succeeded or failed."
Christopher leaned forward.
The voice had been electronically distorted.
"You were always the easier one."
Christopher's jaw tightened.
"The company made you think money was power. Your father understood the truth. Information is power."
Cole began recording the playback on a secondary device.
The voice continued.
"Rachel found a piece of the truth. She never found all of it."
Christopher whispered, "Grant."
The voice gave no confirmation.
"Your daughter is alive because Juliette panicked."
Christopher's hands curled into fists.
"She was told to make it look like an accident."
Cole glanced toward him.
"Do not stop it."
The recording continued.
"The pool was not Plan A."
Christopher went cold.
"Ask your housekeeper what Emma drank yesterday morning."
Christopher turned toward Yvette.
She stood near the door.
Her face lost all color.
"Yvette?"
"Orange juice."
"Who gave it to her?"
Yvette stared at the screen.
"Mrs. Whitmore."
Christopher's heart pounded.
Cole paused the video.
"Where is the glass?"
"Kitchen dishwasher."
"Find it."
An officer left immediately.
Christopher looked at Yvette.
"Was Emma sick?"
"She said she was sleepy."
Christopher remembered Emma lying on the sofa before lunch.
He had kissed her forehead.
Juliette had said the excitement of the evening party had tired her.
He had believed her.
Cole resumed the video.
"Juliette was never meant to push her."
The distorted voice sounded almost amused.
"She was supposed to wait."
Christopher whispered, "Wait for what?"
As if answering him, the voice continued.
"For the medication to work."
Christopher struck the desk with his palm.
Cole paused the recording.
"Christopher."
"Play it."
"You're not helping Emma by losing control."
"Play it."
Cole continued.
"But Juliette became afraid Christopher would notice the child growing weak. So she improvised."
The voice paused.
"Poorly."
Christopher had never hated a voice before.
Now he did.
"Juliette wanted the mansion. That was what we told her."
Christopher stared at the screen.
"We let her believe Emma's death would make her rich."
Another pause.
"But this was never about the mansion."
The audio distorted briefly.
"This was about correcting an inheritance mistake made thirty six years ago."
Grant's age.
Christopher felt certain now.
The voice belonged to Grant Mercer.
The video ended with one sentence.
"Tomorrow at noon, Christopher, you will receive proof that your father stole more than a name."
The screen went dark.
Cole leaned back.
Evelyn spoke softly.
"He wants us waiting for something."
"Then we'll be ready," Cole said.
Christopher looked at the drive.
"No."
Cole frowned.
"No?"
"Grant didn't leave this because he wanted to warn us."
"Agreed."
"He left it because he wants me looking at the past."
Christopher turned toward the door.
"So what am I supposed to miss in the present?"
They checked the mansion.
Every person.
Every room.
Every entrance.
Nothing.
Then Christopher realized what was missing.
"Emma."
He ran upstairs.
Emma was not in his bedroom.
His chest tightened.
"Emma!"
The bathroom was empty.
The dressing room was empty.
He ran into the hallway.
"Emma!"
Yvette appeared from the opposite corridor.
"She's with Nurse Helen."
"Where?"
"The breakfast room."
Christopher ran downstairs.
He found Emma sitting at a table with a bowl of cereal.
The nurse was beside her.
Christopher nearly collapsed with relief.
Emma looked confused.
"Daddy?"
He crossed the room and hugged her.
"I'm okay."
"I know."
"You're squishing me."
He loosened his arms.
Then he saw the cereal.
"Who brought this?"
Helen pointed toward the kitchen.
"One of the staff."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
Christopher stood.
"Don't let her eat anything."
Emma's face fell.
"But I'm hungry."
"I'll make something."
He took the bowl.
Cole entered moments later.
The kitchen staff were questioned.
No one admitted preparing Emma's cereal.
Security footage was checked.
At 7:12 a.m., a person wearing a staff uniform entered the kitchen.
The figure's face was hidden by a cap.
At 7:16, the person left through the service entrance.
Yvette stared at the screen.
"That's not one of us."
Cole zoomed in.
The stranger carried a tray.
A black stone ring was visible on one hand.
Grant.
Christopher felt rage rise again.
Grant had entered the mansion while police were outside.
He had walked through Christopher's home.
He had approached Emma's food.
The bowl was sent for testing.
Two hours later, preliminary results found a sedative.
Not enough to kill her.
Enough to make her drowsy.
Enough to make a fall into water far more dangerous.
Grant's plan had continued even after Juliette's arrest.
Christopher looked at Cole.
"He was inside my house."
"He knows the property."
"He knows my daughter."
"We're expanding the search."
Christopher walked to the window.
Beyond the glass stood the enormous estate his family had fought to preserve for generations.
For the first time, he hated it.
"I want Emma out of here."
Cole nodded.
"I agree."
Christopher turned.
"We leave now."
But before they could move, the estate gates opened.
A black sedan entered.
No police officer stopped it.
Christopher stared.
"Who authorized that car?"
Cole reached for his radio.
The sedan stopped directly in front of the mansion.
A woman stepped out.
She was perhaps seventy years old.
Silver hair.
Straight posture.
Dark glasses.
Christopher had never seen her before.
Yet Evelyn whispered a name.
"Margaret Mercer."
Christopher turned.
"Grant's mother?"
Evelyn nodded.
The elderly woman approached the front door alone.
In her hands was a wooden box.
When Christopher opened the door, she looked past him toward the mansion.
Then she said quietly, "Your father promised me this house would never destroy another child."
Christopher stared at her.
Margaret held out the box.
"Grant thinks he knows why your father hated him."
May you like
She looked directly into Christopher's eyes.
"He doesn't."
