Chapter 3 - THE ROOM IN THE EAST WING
The east wing had been closed since Isabel Vale’s death.
At least, that was what everyone said.
At two in the morning, Elena followed Sophie through the dark mansion. The child knew which floorboards creaked and which cameras turned away for exactly four seconds before returning to position.
“You’ve done this before,” Elena whispered.
Sophie nodded.
“With Hannah.”
“The previous nanny?”
“She believed me.”
“What happened to her?”
“They said she went to London.”
“You don’t believe that?”
Sophie stopped beside a narrow staircase.
“I heard her crying in Celeste’s room.”
Elena felt a chill move through her.
“When?”
“The night before she left.”
“What did she say?”
“She said, ‘You can’t make me sign it.’”
Sophie led Elena to a locked door at the end of the east corridor.
The brass key fit.
Inside was a bedroom preserved like a sealed memory.
A white dress remained draped over a chair.
Books lined the shelves.
A bottle of perfume stood open on the vanity.
Dust covered almost everything except a section of the floor near the fireplace.
Someone had been entering the room.
“This was my mother’s,” Sophie whispered.
Elena turned on a small lamp.
Photographs covered one wall. Isabel with Adrian. Isabel holding Sophie as a baby. Isabel standing in front of a cedar house surrounded by pine trees.
Elena recognized it immediately.
The old house from Sophie’s drawing.
“Where is this?”
“Blackwood Lake.”
“Does your family still own it?”
Sophie nodded.
“No one goes there.”
Elena examined the fireplace.
The clean section of floor led to a carved wooden panel.
She pressed it.
Nothing happened.
Sophie pointed to a small keyhole hidden inside the mantel.
Elena inserted the brass key.
A compartment opened.
Inside was a recorder, several letters, and a sealed envelope marked:
FOR SOPHIE, WHEN SHE IS OLD ENOUGH TO UNDERSTAND.
Elena did not open it.
She picked up the recorder.
The battery was dead.
Footsteps sounded in the corridor.
Sophie froze.
Elena switched off the lamp and pulled the child behind the curtains.
The door opened.
A beam of light swept across the room.
Owen Mercer entered.
The security chief walked directly to the fireplace.
He opened the hidden compartment.
His hand moved inside.
Then stopped.
The recorder was gone.
Owen turned slowly, scanning the darkness.
Elena held Sophie against her chest.
The flashlight moved closer.
A floorboard creaked near the door.
Owen spun around.
Julian stood in the hallway.
“Looking for something?” Julian asked.
Owen lowered the flashlight.
“This wing is restricted.”
“That explains why you’re here.”
“I was responding to an alarm.”
“What alarm?”
Owen’s face remained blank.
“Return to your room, Mr. Vale.”
Julian leaned against the doorway.
“My father hired your father. You used to call me Julian.”
“Your father is dead.”
“So is my sister-in-law, yet everyone keeps searching her bedroom.”
Owen stepped toward him.
“You should be careful.”
Julian smiled, but his eyes did not.
“That sounded almost like advice.”
Owen left.
Julian waited until the footsteps disappeared.
Then he spoke quietly.
“You can come out now.”
Elena opened the curtains.
Sophie ran to him.
“Uncle Julian.”
He crouched and hugged her.
“You promised not to come here alone.”
“I wasn’t alone.”
Julian looked at Elena.
“That is not as reassuring as she thinks.”
Elena held up the recorder.
“What is on this?”
“I don’t know.”
“You knew it existed.”
“I knew Isabel hid things.”
“Why?”
“Because before she died, she called me and said Adrian was surrounded by people he shouldn’t trust.”
“Did she name them?”
“No.”
“Did you tell Adrian?”
“Of course.”
“And?”
“He thought grief and stress had made her paranoid.”
Elena looked down at the recorder.
“Do you have a charger?”
Julian took it.
“This model is old. I may be able to find one.”
“Do not take it out of the house.”
“You don’t trust me?”
“I don’t trust anyone who grew up here.”
He gave a quiet laugh.
“Smart.”
They returned Sophie to bed.
Before leaving, Julian handed Elena the sealed envelope.
She frowned.
“I left that in the compartment.”
“I took it before Owen came in.”
“It belongs to Sophie.”
“Which is why Celeste cannot find it.”
Elena examined the handwriting.
“Where should we hide it?”
Julian looked toward the nursery.
“Somewhere no one in this family ever thinks to look.”
The next morning, they taped it beneath the bottom drawer of Sophie’s toy chest.
At breakfast, Adrian announced that he and Celeste would marry in twelve days.
Sophie dropped her spoon.
Celeste smiled at her.
“Isn’t that exciting?”
The child stared at the table.
Adrian noticed.
“Sophie?”
“I don’t want a wedding.”
The room became still.
Celeste reached for her hand.
Sophie pulled away.
Adrian frowned.
“This marriage will give you stability.”
“I don’t want her to be my mother.”
Celeste’s smile faded.
“No one is replacing your mother.”
“Yes, you are.”
“Sophie,” Adrian warned.
The child looked at him with tears in her eyes.
“She hurts me when you leave.”
Adrian went pale.
Celeste slowly released her napkin.
“That is a terrible lie.”
Sophie stood so quickly that her chair fell backward.
“It’s true.”
Celeste’s eyes filled with tears instantly.
“Adrian, I warned you this would happen. Elena has been filling her head with accusations.”
Elena stared at her.
“I have never told Sophie what to say.”
Adrian looked from Celeste to his daughter.
“Where did she hurt you?”
Sophie opened her mouth.
Then the breakfast-room doors opened.
Two police officers entered with Owen.
One of them looked directly at Elena.
“Elena Marlowe?”
“Yes.”
“You need to come with us.”
Sophie ran to her.
“No!”
The officer held up a document.
“We received a report that you entered a restricted room and removed valuable property belonging to the Vale family.”
Celeste covered her mouth.
Adrian turned toward Elena.
“What did you take?”
Elena looked at Julian.
May you like
His chair was empty.
And the recorder was gone.
