Chapter 7 - Room Thirteen
At eleven fifty-eight that night, Margaret entered the cellar.
The villa slept above her.
She carried no light except her phone.
Room Thirteen was not listed on the house plans, but the brass token contained a clue. Around the black rose were thirteen tiny lines. The longest pointed east.
Margaret followed the eastern cellar wall.
Wine racks covered most of it.
Behind a row of dusty Burgundy bottles, she found a metal slot shaped like the token.
She inserted it.
A section of stone moved inward.
Beyond it was a narrow passage descending beneath the villa.
Margaret followed the steps.
At the bottom stood a steel door marked 13.
It opened before she touched it.
Inside, a projector illuminated a bare wall.
A chair faced the screen.
Margaret entered.
The door closed behind her.
The film began.
Thomas appeared on the wall.
He was older than when they first met but younger than the day he died. His hair was wet, and a bruise darkened his cheek.
Margaret stopped breathing.
The recording date appeared in the corner.
Three days before Thomas’s fatal crash.
Thomas looked directly into the camera.
“Marguerite, if you are seeing this, Philippe has found you, or you have found him.”
Margaret moved closer.
“I hoped neither would happen.”
Thomas glanced over his shoulder.
“The Laurent ledger survived the fire. Your father divided it into three sections. One was hidden in France. One was sent to England. One was given to a person whose identity I never learned.”
Margaret whispered, “Why did you not tell me?”
As if answering her, Thomas continued.
“I kept this from you because knowing would have endangered Claire.”
The image flickered.
“Philippe Beaumont is not the head of the organization. He is a custodian. The people above him call themselves the Circle of the Black Rose.”
Margaret thought of Elise’s cuff.
“The Circle transfers wealth through marriages, guardianships, false inheritances, and engineered deaths. The Laurent family discovered the network when your father refused to approve a series of accounts.”
Thomas held up a small notebook.
“This contains the English section of the ledger.”
Margaret leaned closer.
“I hid it where Claire would carry it every day without knowing.”
Her blood ran cold.
Thomas’s voice softened.
“I am sorry.”
The video cut to static.
Then another image appeared.
A photograph of eight-year-old Claire at her father’s funeral.
She wore a small silver locket.
Margaret remembered it.
Thomas had given it to Claire one week before his death.
Claire still wore it.
The screen went dark.
A voice spoke from behind Margaret.
“Now you understand why your daughter was chosen.”
Philippe stood near the door.
He held a gun.
Margaret did not turn fully.
“Did Luca choose her?”
“No.”
“Did you arrange their meeting?”
“Not at first.”
“At first?”
“They met by accident. We discovered who she was later.”
“How?”
“Her locket appeared in a photograph.”
Margaret remembered Claire and Luca attending a charity gala two years earlier.
A photographer had captured them dancing.
The image had been published online.
“Then you encouraged the relationship.”
Philippe said nothing.
“You invited her into your family to get close to the ledger.”
“Claire is not the target.”
“She is my daughter. That makes her the target.”
Philippe stepped forward.
“Give me the locket, Marguerite.”
“No.”
“You do not understand what will happen if the Circle knows you survived.”
“They already know.”
“They suspect.”
“And Hélène?”
His face tightened.
“What about her?”
“Did she start the fire?”
Philippe lowered the gun slightly.
“The fire was not supposed to spread.”
Margaret turned.
“Then she did.”
“She was young.”
“My parents burned alive.”
“We were all trapped.”
“You became rich.”
“So did many others.”
Margaret’s voice shook with rage.
“Where is the third section of the ledger?”
“I do not know.”
“Where is Étienne?”
Philippe’s expression changed.
“You have been speaking to Luca.”
“Where is your son?”
Philippe’s hand tightened around the weapon.
“He discovered too much.”
“Did you kill him?”
“No.”
“Did Hélène?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
A loud alarm sounded.
Philippe looked toward the ceiling.
Margaret moved.
She struck his wrist.
The gun fired into the wall.
She grabbed the weapon, but Philippe shoved her against the projector.
The steel door opened.
Luca rushed inside.
He saw the gun between them.
“Father!”
Philippe released Margaret.
Luca pulled her away.
“What is this place?”
Philippe straightened his jacket.
“Your future mother-in-law broke into a restricted area.”
“I heard the recording.”
Philippe’s face went still.
Luca stared at him.
“You knew Claire’s father?”
“No.”
“I heard you say her locket contains something.”
Philippe looked at Margaret.
She understood.
Luca had arrived before Philippe confessed enough to expose himself fully.
Philippe smiled coldly.
“Margaret has filled your head with old fantasies.”
Luca picked up the brass token.
“Was Étienne’s death a fantasy?”
Philippe lost control.
“Do not speak his name in this room.”
“Why?”
“Because he betrayed us.”
The words echoed.
Luca went pale.
Philippe realized his mistake.
Margaret stepped between them.
“Go to Claire.”
Luca did not move.
“Tell her to remove her locket,” Margaret continued. “Do not let anyone see you take it.”
“What is inside?”
“The reason your family invited us here.”
Luca looked at his father.
Then he ran.
Philippe lifted the gun again.
Margaret stared into his eyes.
“If you shoot me, Luca will know everything.”
“He will know soon enough.”
A second voice came through the open doorway.
“So will the police.”
Elise stood there holding a phone.
Philippe turned.
May you like
Elise smiled faintly.
“I have been recording since you entered.”
