Chapter 7 - The Secret Beneath the Morrell Name)
Charles Morrell had been dead for twelve years.
Until that morning, Adrian's clearest memory of his grandfather was a man sitting at the end of a Thanksgiving table correcting everyone's posture.
Charles had founded the modern Morrell empire.
Hospitals.
Real estate.
Insurance.
Private investment.
His portrait still hung inside the headquarters lobby.
Now Adrian stood beneath another portrait of him inside Morrell House and wondered how many lives had been destroyed by the man behind the painted smile.
Eleanor refused to believe the document.
"It could be forged."
Michael nodded.
"It could."
"You admitted Voss forged records."
"Yes."
"Then this proves nothing."
Grace was standing near the fireplace.
"But Richard believed something."
Eleanor looked at her.
Grace continued.
"Enough to create Project Second Son."
Adrian looked toward his aunt.
"Where else would my father keep records?"
"The archive."
"It's been searched."
"Then his office."
"Also searched."
Eleanor shook her head.
"Richard didn't trust computers. He barely trusted safes."
Grace thought about the key Vanessa had carried.
"What about places he didn't want anyone to know existed?"
Adrian looked at her.
"There are dozens of rooms in this house."
Lily appeared in the doorway.
Grace immediately turned.
"What are you doing awake?"
Lily rubbed one eye.
"I couldn't find you."
Grace crossed to her.
Behind Lily stood Mrs. Alden.
"I'm sorry," the estate manager said. "She slipped past me."
Adrian smiled tiredly.
"It's all right."
Lily looked toward Charles Morrell's portrait.
"That's the man."
Everyone froze.
Grace crouched.
"What man?"
"The picture."
"What picture?"
"In Miss Vanessa's room."
Grace felt her pulse increase.
"You said the photograph had Vanessa, Dr. Voss, and Mr. Richard."
Lily pointed at Charles.
"He was there too."
Adrian stared at the portrait.
"Are you sure?"
Lily nodded.
"But that's impossible," Eleanor said.
Charles Morrell had died four years before the charity gala photograph Grace found online.
Grace asked carefully, "Was it a new picture or an old picture?"
Lily frowned.
"Old."
"What was Vanessa doing in it?"
"She wasn't big."
Grace understood.
"You mean she was a child?"
Lily nodded.
Adrian's face changed.
He looked toward Eleanor.
"How old is Vanessa?"
"Thirty."
Adrian calculated silently.
Charles had died when Vanessa was eighteen.
There could easily have been photographs of them together.
Adrian turned toward Mrs. Alden.
"Vanessa's personal belongings."
"Police sealed the room."
"Ask Detective Palmer to meet us there."
Twenty minutes later, investigators opened the dressing room.
The prosthetic boxes had already been photographed and removed.
Grace showed them where the cabinet had been.
Lily stood in the doorway with Mrs. Alden.
"Where was the picture?" Adrian asked.
Lily pointed toward the vanity.
"Drawer."
Police opened it.
Cosmetics.
Jewelry.
Receipts.
No photograph.
Then Grace noticed the drawer was unusually shallow.
"Pull it out."
Detective Palmer did.
Behind it was a thin envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Adrian stared.
Vanessa was perhaps nine years old.
Samuel Voss stood behind her.
Richard Morrell was there.
And beside him stood Charles Morrell.
The photograph had been taken at St. Catherine's Children's Pavilion.
On the back was a handwritten date.
2005.
Vanessa would have been nine.
Charles was still alive.
Adrian turned the photograph over again.
"What was Vanessa doing with them?"
Nobody answered.
Then Detective Palmer removed another item from the envelope.
A birth certificate.
VANESSA MARIE CLARKE.
Mother.
MELISSA ANNE GRANT.
Grace covered her mouth.
Michael, who had been waiting in the hallway, pushed into the room.
He saw the certificate.
His face emptied.
"No."
Grace looked at him.
"Michael."
He took the paper with shaking hands.
"My sister had a boy."
The birth certificate said female.
Vanessa.
Michael stared through the doorway toward the interview room where Vanessa had been held earlier.
"My niece."
Adrian felt the entire mystery shift again.
Vanessa had not merely been hired by Michael.
She was the child Michael had spent decades trying to find.
But Michael clearly had not known.
"Does Vanessa know?" Grace asked.
A voice answered from behind them.
"Yes."
Everyone turned.
Vanessa stood at the end of the corridor accompanied by an officer.
She was no longer crying.
Michael looked at her.
"You're Melissa's daughter."
Vanessa nodded.
His mouth opened but no words came.
Vanessa continued.
"I found out three years ago."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Voss told me you were dangerous."
Michael laughed bitterly.
"And he told me you didn't exist."
Vanessa looked toward Adrian.
"This is what I was trying to find."
"The Second Son file?"
"It wasn't about your brother."
Adrian frowned.
Vanessa stepped closer.
"The title fooled everyone."
"What was it about?"
"Charles Morrell's second family."
Silence.
Eleanor whispered, "What?"
Vanessa looked at her.
"Your father had another son."
Eleanor went pale.
Adrian stared.
Vanessa continued.
"Not Caroline's missing baby. Not Richard's child."
She pointed toward the portrait of Charles Morrell visible through the bedroom door.
"His."
Adrian felt cold.
"Who?"
May you like
Vanessa swallowed.
"Samuel Voss."
