Chapter 10 - The House with Two Sets of Keys
Nathaniel ordered the estate sealed.
Every employee, guard, and guest was brought into the ballroom. Phones were collected. Vehicles were searched. The security system showed no one entering or leaving after Sebastian’s arrival.
That meant Silas was still inside.
Or the system was lying.
Ruby sat beside June at the far end of the ballroom. Nathaniel wanted her moved to another property, but Ruby refused.
“Every place you call safe becomes dangerous,” she told him. “At least here, I can see the doors.”
Nathaniel did not argue.
Marcus reviewed the estate’s access records.
Only four people had used the service corridors during the previous month.
Nathaniel.
Marcus.
The head housekeeper.
And Nathaniel’s late wife, Catherine.
The final entry under Catherine’s name had occurred three days earlier.
Catherine had been dead for ten years.
Sebastian leaned over the screen.
“Someone cloned her access key.”
Nathaniel looked toward a portrait of his wife above the fireplace.
After Elara vanished, Catherine had stopped speaking about her. Six months later, she died following a sudden illness.
Nathaniel had believed grief destroyed her health.
Now he wondered whether grief had been the only cause.
Ruby walked toward the portrait.
“She has my eyes.”
Nathaniel nodded.
“That was your grandmother.”
Ruby pointed at the necklace in Catherine’s portrait.
A silver compass hung from it.
“Where is her key?”
Nathaniel turned to Marcus.
Catherine had been buried with the necklace.
At least, that was what the funeral director had claimed.
Sebastian crossed the ballroom.
“Catherine knew more than any of us.”
Nathaniel’s voice sharpened.
“Do not involve her.”
“She knew Elara was pregnant.”
“You cannot know that.”
“I saw them together at Hawthorne Lane.”
Nathaniel stared at him.
“When?”
“Two weeks before Ruby was born.”
“Catherine told me she had not spoken to Elara for months.”
“She lied.”
“Why?”
“Because she believed you were being watched.”
Gabriel lowered his weapon and placed it on a table.
“Catherine was the first person to suspect the Architect.”
Everyone turned.
Nathaniel’s anger shifted.
“You spoke to my wife?”
“She asked me to protect Elara’s child.”
“Then why did you answer June’s call and say I wanted nothing to do with Ruby?”
Gabriel looked genuinely confused.
“I never received a call from June.”
June studied him.
“I know your voice.”
“Someone may have used a recording.”
“She identified you from a photograph.”
“Because the caller wanted her to remember my face.”
Nathaniel thought about Elara’s video.
The Architect created conflicts and let innocent people destroy one another.
A guard hurried into the ballroom.
“We found Silas.”
“Where?” Marcus asked.
“In Mrs. Vale’s old bedroom.”
Nathaniel led the way upstairs.
Catherine’s bedroom had remained locked since her death.
Silas stood before a hidden safe behind the wardrobe.
He was not trying to escape.
He was turning the dial.
“Step away,” Marcus ordered.
Silas raised his hands.
“You need what’s inside.”
“How did you get into this room?” Nathaniel asked.
“Catherine’s key.”
He held up the silver compass necklace.
“Where did you get that?”
“From the person who murdered her.”
Nathaniel moved toward him, but Gabriel blocked his path.
“Let him speak.”
Silas entered the final number.
The safe opened.
Inside were dozens of letters written by Elara, a sealed medical report, and a video camera.
Silas pressed play.
Catherine appeared on the small screen.
“If Nathaniel is watching this,” she said, “then I failed to tell him the truth while I was alive.”
Nathaniel’s face drained of color.
May you like
Catherine held up a copy of Ruby’s original birth certificate.
“The name written as Ruby’s father is false. I know because I changed it.”
