Chapter 5 - the key inside the watch
The video feed froze before the hammer fell.
Mark swore.
Emily immediately called Daniel.
No answer.
She called again.
Nothing.
"We have to go back," Mark said.
"No."
"That box might contain the key."
"And your mother knows we want it."
"Exactly."
"Which means going back is what she expects."
Mark paced.
"So what do we do?"
Emily looked at the paused image of Barbara holding the wooden box.
"Your father gave you a watch."
"Yes."
"Where is it?"
Mark touched his wrist automatically.
Then stopped.
"No."
"What?"
"I haven't worn it in months."
"Where is it?"
"My desk drawer."
"At home?"
"At the office."
Emily stood.
Mark worked fifteen minutes from the hotel.
They woke Chloe and took her with them.
Emily refused to leave her with anyone.
At 1:20 in the morning, they entered Carter Architectural Group through a side door.
Mark's father had founded the company thirty years earlier.
His photograph still hung in the reception area.
William Carter looked confident, severe, and vaguely amused.
Emily had always liked him.
He had been difficult, stubborn, occasionally infuriating.
But he had loved Chloe without condition.
Mark opened his desk.
The watch was exactly where he remembered.
Heavy silver casing.
Dark leather strap.
Emily turned it over.
Nothing.
Mark pressed the crown.
Nothing.
Then Chloe reached for it.
"Grandpa showed me."
Emily and Mark both looked at her.
"What?"
Chloe pressed the tiny release beneath the strap.
The back opened.
Inside was a brass key no longer than Emily's thumb.
Mark stared.
"How did you know?"
"Grandpa said it was his secret watch."
"When?"
"Before he went to heaven."
Emily crouched.
"What else did Grandpa tell you?"
Chloe thought.
"He said Grandma doesn't like secrets unless they're hers."
Mark closed his eyes.
Emily stood.
"Where's the bank?"
Mark checked the engraving on the key.
CARTER NATIONAL.
The branch opened at nine.
They had seven hours.
At 2:05, Daniel finally called.
"You okay?" Emily asked.
"Bruised."
"Who came after you?"
"Two men. Faces covered."
"Police?"
"I called them. They took a report."
"Did you tell them about Barbara?"
"Not yet."
"Why?"
"Because William made me promise that if this happened, I would not accuse anyone until the envelope was opened."
"That's insane."
"Maybe. But he believed the evidence inside would explain why."
Emily looked at Mark.
"We have the second key."
Daniel was silent.
"Where did you find it?"
"Inside William's watch."
"Then meet me at Carter National when it opens."
Emily lowered her voice.
"Daniel, what do you think is in that envelope?"
"I've spent eighteen months wondering."
At 8:40 the next morning, they parked across from Carter National.
Daniel arrived five minutes later wearing sunglasses over a bruised eye.
Chloe gasped when she saw him.
"You got hurt."
"I'm okay."
She studied him seriously.
"Grandma did it?"
Daniel crouched.
"I don't know who did it."
Emily noticed he had chosen those words carefully.
Inside the bank, they requested access to the box.
The employee checked identification.
Then frowned.
"There's an issue."
"What issue?" Mark asked.
"This safe-deposit box was accessed yesterday."
Daniel looked at Emily.
"By whom?"
The employee typed.
"Barbara Carter."
Mark stepped forward.
"She doesn't have either key."
"According to our records, she presented notarized authorization from William Carter."
Daniel's expression hardened.
"William Carter is dead."
"I understand."
"When was that authorization signed?"
The employee looked uncomfortable.
"Three weeks ago."
Silence.
Emily felt every hair on her arms rise.
"Your records say a dead man signed a document three weeks ago?"
The employee turned pale.
"I'll get the branch manager."
Daniel looked at Mark.
"Your mother knew."
"Knew what?"
"About the box."
"But how?"
Emily answered.
"The camera."
They stared at her.
"Barbara didn't smash the porch camera because she was angry."
Emily thought back to the footage.
The office.
The USB devices.
The missing security recordings.
"She was using our system."
Daniel understood first.
"Audio."
Emily nodded.
"She heard us."
Mark's face drained.
"Then she knows everything."
They waited thirty minutes while the bank investigated.
Finally, the manager returned with a sealed evidence bag.
"Mrs. Carter removed the contents of the box."
Emily's heart sank.
"But she left this."
Inside the bag was a single photograph.
William standing beside Barbara.
Between them was a man Emily did not recognize.
On the back, written in William's handwriting, were three words.
FIND THOMAS VALE.
Mark stared at the name.
"No."
Emily turned.
"You know him?"
May you like
Mark looked as though he had seen a ghost.
"Thomas Vale died when I was sixteen."
