Chapter 23 - The Witness Behind Glass
The broadcast was not public. Someone had remotely connected to Hale House’s security system.
Celeste stood behind a glass wall in an unknown building. Benjamin sat on the other side, guarded by a masked man.
“Elias wants the vault opened before midnight,” Celeste said. “If we refuse, Benjamin dies and the files inside will be destroyed.”
Nora asked why the vault required Celeste.
“Ada designed the lock around family records. It needs my fingerprint, your bloodline verification, and the master deed.”
“Why would she give you access after everything you did?”
“Because she expected me to return when Voss returned.”
Celeste claimed the vault contained original testimony from victims, financial ledgers, and a list of officials who had protected the property scheme for thirty years.
It also contained sixty million dollars recovered from fraudulent transfers.
“That is what Voss wants,” Celeste said. “The evidence is secondary.”
Nora did not know whether to believe her.
State investigators traced the transmission through several locations, none of them near Westbridge.
Then the masked guard stepped away.
Benjamin looked directly into the camera.
“Nora, do not open the vault for Celeste.”
Celeste struck the glass with her palm.
“Benjamin, stop.”
“She is not trying to save me,” he continued. “She made the deal with Voss.”
The transmission flickered.
Celeste shouted that Benjamin was lying because he wanted the trust for Elise. Benjamin responded that Celeste had spent years helping Voss identify properties while pretending to undermine him.
The screen divided into two security feeds.
One showed Benjamin.
The other showed Elise locked inside a different room.
Elias Voss’s voice filled the house.
“One mother. Two daughters. One inheritance.”
Nora looked at Elise’s face and finally understood the message written on the photograph.
Elise was not Elias Voss’s daughter.
She was Celeste’s.
That made Elise Nora’s younger sister.
Voss began a countdown.
Celeste pressed both hands against the glass.
“Open the floor, Nora.”
May you like
The circular section beneath the dining table unlocked with a metallic click.
A staircase descended into darkness.
