Chapter 2 - The First Warning)
Claire locked the bedroom door.
Then she pushed a chair beneath the handle.
Sophie watched from the edge of the bed.
"Are we in trouble?"
"No."
"Grandma's mad."
"Grandma can be mad."
"What if she comes in?"
"She won't."
Claire was not certain.
The fact that Sophie seemed more worried about Margaret's anger than about the disappearance of her puppy bothered her almost as much as the dinner.
Claire sat beside her.
"Tell me everything that happened after school."
Sophie stared at her hands.
"Grandpa wasn't home when the bus dropped me off."
"Okay."
"Grandma was in the kitchen talking on the phone."
"Could you hear her?"
"Not really."
"Then what happened?"
"I took Max upstairs."
The puppy was a ten-month-old golden retriever mix Daniel had brought home shortly before his death.
Max had been seven weeks old then.
Daniel had claimed the puppy was Sophie's birthday surprise even though her birthday was three months away.
Claire had teased him about his inability to keep secrets.
Daniel had smiled.
"Sometimes timing matters more than calendars."
She remembered the sentence now because it had sounded meaningless then.
Sophie continued.
"Max ran downstairs because Grandma left the back door open."
"Did he get outside?"
"No. He went toward Grandpa's office."
Claire listened carefully.
"The office door was open?"
"A little."
"And you went inside."
"I was only getting Max."
"What did you see?"
Sophie swallowed.
"There were folders everywhere. Grandpa's desk was open."
"Which drawer?"
"The bottom one."
"What was inside?"
"A red book."
Claire pictured Robert's office.
Mahogany desk.
Locked cabinets.
Family photographs positioned like proof of respectability.
"What did the book look like?"
"Old."
"Did you open it?"
Sophie nodded.
"I thought it was one of Dad's."
"Why?"
"Because his name was inside."
Claire's heart accelerated.
"Daniel?"
"It said Daniel Hart."
"What else?"
"Numbers."
"Money?"
"I think."
"Addresses?"
"Some."
"And your name?"
Sophie nodded.
"Near the back."
"Did you read what it said beside your name?"
Sophie squeezed the sleeves of her sweater.
"Trust."
Claire said nothing.
Sophie's education trust had been established by Daniel when she was born.
After his death, Robert told Claire the trust had become complicated because Daniel had changed administrators shortly before the accident.
Claire had never understood why.
Every time she requested documents, Robert promised his attorney was working on them.
"What happened next?"
"Grandma came in."
"Did she yell?"
"Not at first."
Sophie's eyes changed.
"She closed the door."
Claire waited.
"Then she asked what I touched."
"What did you tell her?"
"Nothing."
"What did she do?"
"She asked again."
"Did she threaten you?"
Sophie looked toward the bedroom door.
"She said if I went into Grandpa's office again, I would lose something I loved."
Claire felt anger rise through her, clean and immediate.
"Was Max in the office?"
"Yes."
"What happened to him?"
"Grandma grabbed his collar."
"Did she hurt him?"
"No. He was scared."
Sophie's voice trembled.
"She took him downstairs."
"And the note?"
"She put it on my door after."
"Then the puppy disappeared."
Sophie nodded.
Claire placed an arm around her.
"Why didn't you call me?"
"I did."
Claire pulled back.
"What?"
"I called twice."
Claire checked her phone.
No missed calls from Sophie.
"From your phone?"
Sophie nodded.
"Show me."
They went to Sophie's room.
Her tablet was on the desk.
Her small prepaid phone was in the top drawer.
Claire opened the call history.
Nothing.
The outgoing calls had been deleted.
She checked messages.
A message to Claire from 4:21 p.m. read:
Mom please come home.
It had never been delivered.
Below it was another unsent message.
Grandma took Max.
Claire stared at the screen.
"Did Grandma have your phone?"
"For a little while."
"Why?"
"She said children who couldn't follow rules didn't need phones."
Claire stood.
This was not impulsive anger.
Someone had deliberately isolated Sophie.
Her own phone vibrated.
Agent Bell.
She answered quietly.
"Claire."
"Are you alone?"
"With Sophie."
"Can Margaret or Robert hear you?"
"No."
"Good. I need you to answer a question very carefully. Has either of them mentioned a ledger, notebook, file, key, drive, box, or anything Daniel might have left behind?"
Claire looked at Sophie.
"Robert asked Sophie about a box."
Bell was silent.
"Did Sophie mention the box first?"
"Yes."
Another pause.
"What box?"
"I don't know."
"Ask her."
Claire lowered the phone.
"Sophie, the box you mentioned this morning. What is it?"
Sophie frowned.
"Dad's metal box."
Claire stared at her.
"You've seen it?"
"Once."
"When?"
"Before he died."
Claire felt dizzy.
"Where?"
"In the garage."
"What was inside?"
"I don't know. Dad told me not to open it."
Bell heard.
"Claire, put me on speaker."
She did.
His voice became gentle.
"Sophie, my name is Marcus. I knew your father."
Sophie looked at the phone.
"You did?"
"Yes. I need to ask you something. Did your dad tell you where he put that box?"
"No."
"Did he tell you anything unusual about it?"
Sophie thought.
"He said it was for later."
"Anything else?"
"He said if Grandpa ever asked about it, I should say I didn't remember."
Claire closed her eyes.
Daniel had expected this.
Bell continued.
"Did he give you anything?"
Sophie became still.
Claire noticed.
"Sophie?"
The girl looked toward the hallway.
Then she whispered.
"He gave me a key."
Bell's voice sharpened.
"Do you still have it?"
Sophie slowly nodded.
"Where?"
She pointed toward her bedroom.
"Inside Max's collar."
Nobody spoke.
Claire felt the meaning arrive before the words.
Max had not been removed because Sophie broke a household rule.
May you like
Max had been removed because Margaret and Robert were looking for something.
And Daniel had hidden the key with the dog.
