Daniel raised one finger, and every officer in the basement became still.<\/p>\n
The knocks stopped.<\/p>\n
The old furnace vibrated in the corner. Dust drifted through the flashlight beams. Somewhere overhead, Thomas was speaking rapidly to the officers guarding him, but his words blurred into an indistinct murmur.<\/p>\n
Then a voice came through the reinforced door.<\/p>\n
\u201cHello?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary felt the hair rise along her arms.<\/p>\n
Daniel stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the Springfield Police Department. Can you tell me your name?\u201d<\/p>\n
No answer.<\/p>\n
He waited.<\/p>\n
A child finally whispered, \u201cLily.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary closed her eyes for one brief second.<\/p>\n
There really was another child.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow old are you, Lily?\u201d Daniel asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m seven.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you open the door?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have the key.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you hurt?\u201d<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at Brooks.<\/p>\n
She was already signaling Jenkins to retrieve the ram.<\/p>\n
\u201cLily,\u201d Mary called, \u201cwe\u2019re going to make some loud noises because we need to open the door. Move as far away from it as you can.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWill Daddy be angry?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary looked toward the stairs.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour daddy can\u2019t hurt you right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he gone?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s with other police officers.\u201d<\/p>\n
The child went quiet.<\/p>\n
Then she asked, \u201cWhich daddy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel and Mary looked at each other.<\/p>\n
Before either could respond, Thomas\u2019s voice exploded upstairs.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo!\u201d<\/p>\n
He began struggling hard enough that furniture scraped across the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t open it!\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s jaw tightened.<\/p>\n
Thomas shouted again.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll ruin everything!\u201d<\/p>\n
Jenkins returned carrying the ram.<\/p>\n
The first strike barely moved the reinforced frame.<\/p>\n
Dust shook from the ceiling.<\/p>\n
The second blow bent metal around the lock.<\/p>\n
Upstairs, Emily sat wrapped in a blanket beside Officer Kelly. Each impact made her shoulders jump.<\/p>\n
Kelly lowered herself beside the child.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re opening the door, that\u2019s all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emily shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe doesn\u2019t like noise.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour dad?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe man Daddy brings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kelly studied her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat man?\u201d<\/p>\n
Emily pressed both hands over her ears.<\/p>\n
Downstairs, the third strike loosened the frame.<\/p>\n
\u201cLily?\u201d Mary called. \u201cAre you away from the door?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood. Stay there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jenkins swung again.<\/p>\n
Metal cracked.<\/p>\n
The fifth blow tore the lock free.<\/p>\n
Daniel caught the door before it could swing violently inward.<\/p>\n
He opened it slowly.<\/p>\n
Stale air escaped.<\/p>\n
His flashlight illuminated pale yellow walls.<\/p>\n
For an instant, the room almost resembled a child\u2019s bedroom.<\/p>\n
There was a narrow bed, a dresser, several books, colored pencils and a small moon-shaped night-light plugged into an outlet.<\/p>\n
Then the details registered.<\/p>\n
No window.<\/p>\n
No clock.<\/p>\n
No photographs.<\/p>\n
No second exit.<\/p>\n
Only the steel door.<\/p>\n
A girl sat curled in the far corner beneath a faded blanket.<\/p>\n
She was painfully thin. Her blond hair had been cut unevenly, one side ending near her chin and the other brushing her shoulder. She squinted against the flashlight and raised one hand to shield her eyes.<\/p>\n
Daniel immediately lowered the beam.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy name is Daniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
The child stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a police officer.\u201d<\/p>\n
No response.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe came because another little girl called for help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cEmily?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary\u2019s breath caught.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know Emily?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes she talks to me through the vent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel looked toward the ceiling.<\/p>\n
A narrow metal vent sat high in the wall.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long have you been in here?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did you last go outside?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary approached slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know what month it is?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat year?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another shake.<\/p>\n
Daniel noticed a paper calendar beside the bed.<\/p>\n
He picked it up carefully.<\/p>\n
Its final marked pages were three years old.<\/p>\n
Small check marks filled day after day until they stopped abruptly.<\/p>\n
Mary opened the dresser.<\/p>\n
Children\u2019s clothing had been folded into careful stacks.<\/p>\n
But the sizes varied dramatically.<\/p>\n
Some garments would have been too small even for Lily.<\/p>\n
Others were far too large.<\/p>\n
Mary closed the drawer without commenting.<\/p>\n
\u201cLily,\u201d Daniel said, \u201cI\u2019d like to help you leave this room. Is that okay?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked toward the doorway.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan he see me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou promise?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel offered his hand.<\/p>\n
Lily unfolded herself slowly.<\/p>\n
When she tried to stand, her legs buckled.<\/p>\n
Mary caught her.<\/p>\n
The child looked embarrassed.<\/p>\n
\u201cSorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t need to apologize.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m bad at walking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary steadied her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI forgot how to do it for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jenkins turned away and called for paramedics.<\/p>\n
Daniel inspected the inside of the door.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of scratches covered the metal.<\/p>\n
Some were shallow.<\/p>\n
Others had cut through layers of paint.<\/p>\n
Words had been carved near the bottom, apparently with a small piece of metal.<\/p>\n
One asked whoever found the room to help.<\/p>\n
Another contained only one word.<\/p>\n
Mom.<\/p>\n
Daniel looked back at Lily.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho brought you here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy daddy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s his name?\u201d<\/p>\n
She seemed confused by the question.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe man upstairs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily nodded.<\/p>\n
Mary exchanged a glance with Daniel.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs Thomas your biological father?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily did not understand the wording.<\/p>\n
\u201cWas he your daddy when you were a baby?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t remember being a baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you remember another mother or father?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily stared at the blanket in her hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lady used to sing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary crouched beside her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat lady?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she sing?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily hummed three uncertain notes.<\/p>\n
Then stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaddy got mad when I remembered.\u201d<\/p>\n
The paramedics arrived with equipment designed to carry Lily upstairs without forcing her weakened legs to support her.<\/p>\n
As they examined her, detectives began taking over the larger investigation.<\/p>\n
Detective Susan Carter arrived and immediately ordered the house treated as a major crime scene.<\/p>\n
Neighbors gathered behind police tape outside.<\/p>\n
Most were bewildered.<\/p>\n
Thomas Miller had been the kind of neighbor people barely remembered because he had seemed so ordinary. He mowed his lawn. He waved from his driveway. He attended school events with Emily.<\/p>\n
Eleanor Watkins, an elderly woman who had lived across the street for more than a decade, watched investigators moving through the house.<\/p>\n
Then she remembered something.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was another girl.\u201d<\/p>\n
Detective Carter turned toward her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat girl?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore Emily was old enough for school. I saw a child here a few times.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas it Lily?\u201d<\/p>\n
Eleanor studied the ambulance where paramedics were preparing to transport the rescued girl.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was her name?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHannah, maybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas said her mother took her after some family dispute.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carter wrote the name down.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you ever meet her mother?\u201d<\/p>\n
Eleanor opened her mouth.<\/p>\n
Then stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another neighbor overheard them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a boy too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carter looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat boy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYears ago. Little fellow. I only saw him twice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to him?\u201d<\/p>\n
The neighbor frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThomas said a relative took him out of state.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you ever see the relative?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carter slowly closed her notebook.<\/p>\n
Inside the house, forensic technicians photographed the living room.<\/p>\n
One of them stopped at the mantel.<\/p>\n
Dozens of pictures showed Thomas.<\/p>\n
Many showed Emily.<\/p>\n
Almost none showed Emily\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n
A single wedding photograph remained.<\/p>\n
Someone had repeatedly scratched the woman\u2019s face with a sharp object.<\/p>\n
Carter studied the damaged picture.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t one child,\u201d she told Sergeant Brooks.<\/p>\n
Brooks looked toward the basement.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis house has a history.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paramedics brought Lily upstairs.<\/p>\n
Emily saw her from the couch.<\/p>\n
For several seconds, neither girl spoke.<\/p>\n
Lily looked older than Emily remembered from whispered conversations through the vent, yet smaller somehow beneath the hospital blanket.<\/p>\n
Emily stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cLily?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou called?\u201d<\/p>\n
Emily nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry it took so long.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily reached toward her.<\/p>\n
Emily took her hand.<\/p>\n
Thomas saw them from across the room.<\/p>\n
His expression hardened.<\/p>\n
Lily immediately pulled closer to Emily.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t let him take me back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe won\u2019t,\u201d Mary said.<\/p>\n
Thomas laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have no idea what you\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carter turned toward him.<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, Mr. Miller, we\u2019re beginning to understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas said nothing else.<\/p>\n
Outside, paramedics prepared Lily for transport. Emily would also be taken to the children\u2019s hospital for examination and a forensic interview.<\/p>\n
Before the ambulance doors closed, Lily caught Mary\u2019s sleeve.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan I ask something?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo kids upstairs get birthdays?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaddy said downstairs children don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary had to steady her voice before answering.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not a downstairs child anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily considered that.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I get one?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get every birthday that comes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The faintest smile appeared.<\/p>\n
Then Lily looked past Mary toward the house.<\/p>\n
It vanished.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was another room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary followed her gaze.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat other room?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBehind mine.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother bedroom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was in it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA lady.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary felt cold despite the warm evening air.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is she now?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you show us where the room was?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t see it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily looked toward the basement windows.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaddy covered it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGray stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cConcrete?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know. A long time ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary crouched beside the stretcher.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you ever see the lady?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. I heard her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe cried a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary glanced toward Detective Carter, who had come close enough to hear.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Thomas go into that room?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas he alone?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd other times?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other man came.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary thought of Emily\u2019s warning about the visitor who disliked noise.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened the last time you heard the lady?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily\u2019s fingers tightened around the blanket.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe cried.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened after that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaddy and the other man used loud machines all night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary\u2019s mouth went dry.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily stared at the house.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen she stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carter stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cLily, are you sure the room was directly behind yours?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere used to be a little hole.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA hole where?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the wall by my bed. I could hear her better there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaddy found it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily\u2019s voice became smaller.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe moved my bed. Then he made the wall thicker.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ambulance doors remained open while Carter called Brooks over.<\/p>\n
Within minutes, the basement search changed direction.<\/p>\n
Technicians examined the wall behind Lily\u2019s room.<\/p>\n
Measurements showed something impossible.<\/p>\n
The interior dimensions did not match the exterior foundation.<\/p>\n
There was missing space.<\/p>\n
Several feet of it.<\/p>\n
Carter stared at the concrete.<\/p>\n
\u201cGet ground-penetrating radar.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brooks nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one touches this wall until we know what\u2019s behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Upstairs, Thomas sat handcuffed under guard.<\/p>\n
Carter approached him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found Lily.\u201d<\/p>\n
No response.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found the clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re documenting the basement.\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes stayed forward.<\/p>\n
Carter watched him.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we know about the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas\u2019s jaw tightened.<\/p>\n
It was the smallest movement.<\/p>\n
It was enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re opening it,\u201d Carter said.<\/p>\n
He finally looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou shouldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas\u2019s face settled into an expression so calm that it disturbed her more than his earlier rage.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou won\u2019t understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carter waited.<\/p>\n
Thomas looked toward the basement hallway.<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carter felt no need to answer.<\/p>\n
Outside, the ambulance carrying Emily and Lily pulled away.<\/p>\n
Lily watched the house through the rear window until it disappeared around the corner.<\/p>\n
Emily sat beside her, their hands still linked.<\/p>\n
Back at Maplewood Drive, floodlights were being erected in the yard. Detectives marked evidence. Officers canvassed neighbors. Technicians photographed every lock, camera, vent and scratch.<\/p>\n
Near dawn, specialized equipment arrived.<\/p>\n
The radar operator ran the scanner slowly across the basement wall.<\/p>\n
Everyone watched the display.<\/p>\n
Concrete.<\/p>\n
More concrete.<\/p>\n
Then a change.<\/p>\n
A cavity.<\/p>\n
The technician repeated the pass.<\/p>\n
The result remained.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s definitely open space behind this section.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow large?\u201d Carter asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cRoughly eight feet across. Maybe more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brooks stared at the wall Lily had described.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you tell whether anyone is inside?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot through concrete this thick.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carter looked at Daniel and Mary.<\/p>\n
Neither spoke.<\/p>\n
They had already opened one locked door and found a living child.<\/p>\n
Now another hidden room waited behind several inches of concrete, connected to a missing mother, an unknown woman\u2019s cries, unexplained children from years earlier, and a second man no one had identified.<\/p>\n
Brooks gave the order.<\/p>\n
\u201cOpen the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel raised one finger, and every officer in the basement became still. The knocks stopped. The old furnace vibrated in the corner. Dust drifted through the flashlight beams. Somewhere overhead, … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23608"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23643,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23608\/revisions\/23643"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}