Chapter 7 - the secret beneath Vale House)
Jonah found Malcolm Rusk dead.
Officially, it was a heart attack.
Unofficially, Jonah did not believe in coincidences anymore.
Rusk had collapsed in his apartment less than six hours after Marianne gave Jonah his name.
His computer was missing.
So was his phone.
But whoever searched the apartment overlooked an old paper address book.
Inside it, Jonah found three initials beside the name of a private medical company.
BMR.
Blue Meridian Recovery.
The company operated clinics specializing in neurological rehabilitation.
It had closed eighteen months earlier.
Jonah called Graham.
"Laura ever receive neurological treatment?"
"No."
"Psychiatric care?"
"No."
"Addiction treatment?"
"Absolutely not."
"Then we have a problem."
They drove to the nearest former Blue Meridian facility outside Worcester.
The building was abandoned.
Inside, most records had been removed.
But an old security office contained a damaged hard drive.
Jonah took it.
That evening his technician recovered fragments of archived visitor logs.
Helen Ward had visited the clinic eleven times.
Malcolm Rusk had visited four.
Laura Vale's name never appeared.
A patient identified only as L.V. did.
The dates began three days after Laura's supposed death.
Graham stared at the screen.
"L.V."
Jonah said nothing.
"Laura Vale."
"Maybe."
"Don't say maybe."
"I need proof."
Graham stood.
"My wife was alive."
"Possibly."
"She was alive while I buried an empty coffin."
"Graham."
"Where is she?"
"We don't know."
Graham turned away.
For the first time since Noah vanished, the mystery of Laura's death and Noah's disappearance became one story.
They returned to the mansion after midnight.
Marianne was waiting.
She had found something.
"Your father renovated the east wing in 1987."
Graham frowned.
"How do you know?"
"I called the architect's widow."
The original architect had died, but his widow still possessed several boxes of drawings.
She remembered a strange request from Charles Vale.
He wanted the servant corridors sealed but not destroyed.
"He said his father built them during Prohibition," Marianne explained. "There were hidden rooms used to store liquor and documents."
Jonah looked toward the east hallway.
"How much space?"
"Almost the entire length of the wing."
Graham called the police commander.
Within an hour, officers arrived with thermal cameras.
They scanned the walls.
Most readings were ordinary.
Then they reached the east library.
A section behind the wall showed a narrow temperature difference.
Cold air.
The officers drilled a tiny inspection hole.
The camera entered.
Wooden beams.
Brick.
Electrical cables.
And recent footprints in dust.
Graham nearly collapsed.
They began removing decorative molding.
But Helen arrived before the wall opened.
"What are you doing?"
Graham stared at her.
"Finding my son."
Helen looked at the police.
"This building contains asbestos in several sealed areas. You can't start demolition without proper containment."
The commander hesitated.
Graham stepped closer.
"How do you know what's inside that wall?"
Helen answered too quickly.
"Your father told me."
"My father died before you joined the foundation."
Silence.
Helen recovered.
"Laura told me."
Graham's heart beat harder.
"When?"
"Years ago."
Jonah watched her carefully.
Helen looked toward Marianne.
For a fraction of a second, anger flashed between them.
The commander ordered the search halted until a hazardous materials team arrived.
Graham wanted to tear the wall apart himself.
Jonah stopped him.
"If Noah is in there, we don't know what else is in there. Gas lines. Wiring. Traps. We do this carefully."
Graham hated him for being right.
The hazardous materials team arrived at dawn.
No asbestos was found.
By then, however, the temperature difference behind the wall had vanished.
Someone had turned off whatever had produced the cold air.
The inspection camera found an empty corridor.
No Noah.
No Peter.
No supplies.
Someone had moved them.
Jonah walked through the newly opened panel.
At the far end, he found a steel door.
Beyond it was another passage leading downward.
On the floor lay a torn piece of black leather.
Graham recognized Noah's jacket.
Then Marianne found something else.
A small smear of blood.
The police tested it.
It belonged to Noah.
Graham stood in the hidden passage with blood on the floor and understood the truth.
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His son had not been taken from the mansion.
He had been taken into it.
