Chapter 3 - What Amelia Hid)
Rachel waited until after midnight.
The house was silent except for the distant hum of the air-conditioning system.
Elara slept in the nursery.
Rachel moved the baby temporarily into a portable bassinet beside the changing table, then examined the crib.
It was an expensive custom piece, black wrought iron with decorative scrollwork along the headboard.
She ran her fingers along the underside.
Nothing.
She checked each rail.
Nothing.
Then she remembered something Lauren had said.
Amelia hid it where Victoria couldn't find it.
Not would not find it.
Couldn't.
Rachel crouched and looked beneath the mattress platform.
One decorative iron flower was slightly different from the others.
She twisted it.
The center unscrewed.
Inside was a narrow plastic capsule.
Rachel's heart began pounding.
She pulled it free.
A tiny brass key slid into her palm.
No file.
Only a key.
The nursery door opened.
Rachel nearly dropped it.
Nathan stood there.
"What are you doing?"
Rachel closed her fingers.
"Checking a squeak."
"At twelve thirty?"
She forced a laugh.
"It was bothering me."
Nathan walked closer.
He looked exhausted.
"You didn't have to stay up."
"I know."
His gaze moved toward Elara in the portable bassinet.
"Is she okay?"
"Yes."
He crouched beside his daughter.
His entire expression changed when he looked at her.
Rachel saw grief there.
And guilt.
Nathan touched Elara's hair.
"I missed almost her whole day."
"You were working."
"That's becoming the excuse for everything."
Rachel said nothing.
Nathan stood again.
"I spoke to Victoria about the camera logs."
Rachel went still.
"You did?"
"She said the system resets automatically."
"It doesn't."
"I know."
Rachel studied his face.
"Then why did you ask her?"
"Because I wanted to hear what she would say."
That surprised Rachel.
Nathan glanced at the crib.
"If something happens around my daughter, you tell me."
"I will."
He looked directly at her.
"Even if you think I won't believe you."
Rachel almost opened her hand.
Almost showed him the key.
Then footsteps sounded in the hallway.
Victoria appeared.
She wore a silk robe and no expression.
"Is something wrong?"
Nathan looked at her.
"No."
Victoria's gaze shifted to Rachel.
Then to the crib.
Rachel felt the key cutting into her palm.
"Go back to bed," Nathan said.
Victoria smiled.
"Of course."
She left.
Rachel did not show Nathan the key.
Not because she distrusted him.
Because Victoria had appeared less than thirty seconds after Nathan entered the nursery.
Someone was monitoring movement.
The next morning Rachel asked Marjorie whether Amelia had owned any private storage boxes.
Marjorie thought for a moment.
"There was a small safe in her dressing room."
"Still there?"
"Removed after the funeral."
"Who removed it?"
Marjorie's face answered before her words did.
"Victoria."
Rachel spent the afternoon searching indirectly.
She checked drawers while organizing children's supplies.
She looked behind framed photographs.
She examined desks whenever she had a legitimate reason to enter a room.
Nothing matched the key.
At five, she found Elara sitting in the conservatory with Victoria.
Rachel had left the child with Nathan for twenty minutes while she showered.
Nathan had received a phone call.
Victoria had stepped in.
Elara was crying.
Victoria held a spoon near her mouth.
"What is that?"
Victoria looked up.
"Applesauce."
Rachel smelled it.
A bitter chemical odor.
She took the bowl.
Victoria's hand tightened around the spoon.
"Give that back."
Rachel carried the bowl to the sink.
"What did you put in it?"
"Vitamins."
"Which vitamins?"
Victoria stood.
"Don't be ridiculous."
Rachel saw a small amber bottle on the table.
The label had been peeled off.
She picked it up.
Victoria moved toward her.
Rachel slipped the bottle into her pocket.
"Rachel."
"I'm documenting this."
Victoria's face changed.
There it was again.
The colder person beneath the elegant one.
"You have no idea what you're interfering with."
Rachel lifted Elara.
"No. But I'm going to find out."
That evening, Nathan returned early.
Rachel showed him the bottle.
He smelled it.
His expression hardened.
"Where did this come from?"
"Victoria."
Victoria denied everything.
She said Rachel had found the bottle elsewhere.
She accused Rachel of instability.
Nathan looked between them.
For one terrible moment, Rachel thought he might believe her.
Then Nathan called a pediatric nurse and sealed the bottle in a bag.
"We'll test it."
Victoria's eyes flashed.
She left the room.
Nathan turned to Rachel.
"Until I know what's happening, Elara stays with you or me."
"Agreed."
"And Victoria does not feed her anything."
Rachel nodded.
Nathan rubbed his face.
"I don't understand this."
Rachel did.
Not everything.
But enough.
That night she tried the brass key on an old writing desk in Amelia's unused bedroom.
It didn't fit.
She tried the small cabinet in the dressing room.
Nothing.
Then Marjorie remembered something.
"Amelia rented a box."
"What box?"
"A bank box."
Rachel stared at her.
"Safe deposit?"
Marjorie nodded.
"She once asked me to mail the annual fee."
"Which bank?"
Marjorie went pale.
"I don't remember."
But Nathan did.
Amelia had used Piedmont Heritage Bank.
The next morning, Rachel drove there during her scheduled break.
The clerk would not tell her whether Amelia had a box.
Rachel expected that.
She showed the brass key anyway.
The man's expression changed.
"Where did you get this?"
Rachel's heart jumped.
"Why?"
He looked closely at the stamped number.
Then he looked at Rachel.
"This box was closed eight months ago."
"By whom?"
"I can't disclose that."
Rachel lowered her voice.
"The owner died eight months ago."
The clerk looked uncomfortable.
Rachel leaned closer.
"Was it closed before she died?"
The man stared at the screen.
May you like
Then he made a mistake.
He whispered, "Three days before."
