We did not rush to Caroline\u2019s studio.<\/p>\n
Every instinct in me wanted to.<\/p>\n
Daniel refused.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf whoever sent that photograph wants us there immediately, we do the opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n
Olivia paced beside the conference table.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe key is inside.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen whoever entered may already have it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow can you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause they won\u2019t know where to look.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel glanced at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou thought Ethan didn\u2019t know the studio existed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone does.\u201d<\/p>\n
That silenced her.<\/p>\n
The deputy contacted local police.<\/p>\n
Within minutes, officers were dispatched to the address Olivia provided.<\/p>\n
We remained where we were.<\/p>\n
Waiting had become its own form of punishment.<\/p>\n
I called no one.<\/p>\n
Ethan called me four times.<\/p>\n
I ignored each one.<\/p>\n
On the fifth attempt, he sent a message.<\/p>\n
Do not go anywhere with Olivia.<\/p>\n
Then:<\/p>\n
She is manipulating you.<\/p>\n
Then:<\/p>\n
Your father never trusted her.<\/p>\n
I showed Daniel.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knows.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEither Olivia told him more than she remembers, or someone is feeding him information.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone looked at Margaret.<\/p>\n
She stiffened.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t say it was.\u201d<\/p>\n
But suspicion had entered the room.<\/p>\n
It no longer needed invitations.<\/p>\n
Twenty minutes later, Daniel\u2019s phone rang.<\/p>\n
Police had secured the studio.<\/p>\n
No one was inside.<\/p>\n
The lock had been forced.<\/p>\n
We could come after the scene was processed.<\/p>\n
Olivia sat down.<\/p>\n
Her hands trembled.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if they found it?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did you hide the key?\u201d<\/p>\n
She shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not saying until we\u2019re there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStill keeping secrets?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
At least she admitted it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause every time one of us says something aloud, someone else seems to know.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was right.<\/p>\n
Daniel looked around the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo discussion of the hiding place.\u201d<\/p>\n
An hour later we drove across town under police escort.<\/p>\n
Caroline\u2019s studio was above what had once been a tailor\u2019s shop in an older neighborhood.<\/p>\n
The storefront downstairs was vacant.<\/p>\n
A narrow exterior staircase climbed along the side of the building.<\/p>\n
Olivia stopped at the bottom.<\/p>\n
I stood beside her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is where she lived?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy secretly?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wanted somewhere Thomas couldn\u2019t walk into.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Ethan?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHim too.\u201d<\/p>\n
A crime-scene officer met us upstairs.<\/p>\n
The doorframe had splintered around the lock.<\/p>\n
Inside, the studio smelled of dust and old plaster.<\/p>\n
It was tiny.<\/p>\n
One room.<\/p>\n
A kitchenette.<\/p>\n
A bathroom.<\/p>\n
A desk beneath the window.<\/p>\n
Books lined two shelves.<\/p>\n
A faded green sofa sat against the wall.<\/p>\n
The place did not look abandoned.<\/p>\n
It looked paused.<\/p>\n
I imagined Caroline leaving one evening believing she would return.<\/p>\n
Twenty-one years later, strangers were walking through her dust.<\/p>\n
Olivia stopped beside the desk.<\/p>\n
Her eyes filled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t been inside in years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel asked, \u201cWhat was disturbed?\u201d<\/p>\n
The officer pointed.<\/p>\n
Desk drawers.<\/p>\n
A cupboard.<\/p>\n
Several floorboards.<\/p>\n
The intruder had searched quickly and aggressively.<\/p>\n
Mara examined the room without touching anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey knew they were looking for something small.\u201d<\/p>\n
Olivia nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe key.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why didn\u2019t they find it?\u201d<\/p>\n
She walked toward the kitchenette.<\/p>\n
The officer stopped her.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me. I\u2019ll retrieve it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Olivia pointed toward an old ceramic sugar bowl on the highest shelf.<\/p>\n
The officer photographed it before lifting it down.<\/p>\n
Empty.<\/p>\n
Olivia\u2019s face went white.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
He showed her.<\/p>\n
Nothing inside.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said the key was there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCould Caroline have moved it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI put it there six weeks ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cSix weeks?\u201d<\/p>\n
Olivia froze.<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said my father gave you the key six weeks before he died.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was almost two years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
She closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you put it here six weeks ago?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere was it before that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Daniel said, \u201cOlivia.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Ethan.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer hit me like cold water.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou gave my father\u2019s key to Ethan?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. He took it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe found it in my safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter Henry died.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen how did you get it back?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI stole it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSix weeks ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom where?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan\u2019s office.\u201d<\/p>\n
The same office where I had found the second phone.<\/p>\n
I looked at Daniel.<\/p>\n
Ethan had possessed the key for more than a year.<\/p>\n
That meant he might already know what it opened.<\/p>\n
Olivia seemed to read the thought.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe never figured it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he kept asking me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara asked, \u201cWhat did the key look like?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSmall brass key. Number stamped on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat number?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c317.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel wrote it down.<\/p>\n
\u201cBank box?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLocker?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStorage unit?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I almost snapped at her.<\/p>\n
Then I noticed something.<\/p>\n
The sugar bowl was dusty.<\/p>\n
The shelf was dusty.<\/p>\n
But a clean oval marked the surface where the bowl had been moved.<\/p>\n
The intruder had found it quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey knew exactly where it was.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel followed my gaze.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Olivia looked horrified.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho knew you put it there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThink.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t tell anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid anyone follow you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you have your phone?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich phone?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy normal phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCompany-issued?\u201d<\/p>\n
Olivia hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara and Daniel exchanged a look.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlackwood Development manages the device?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLocation services?\u201d<\/p>\n
Olivia\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh God.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ethan may not have needed to know the studio existed.<\/p>\n
Her phone could have shown him.<\/p>\n
Daniel asked the officer whether cameras covered the street.<\/p>\n
A neighboring shop had one.<\/p>\n
Police began retrieving footage.<\/p>\n
I walked toward Caroline\u2019s desk.<\/p>\n
A photograph sat facedown beside a lamp.<\/p>\n
The officer permitted me to look after documenting it.<\/p>\n
Caroline stood between two younger men.<\/p>\n
One was Richard.<\/p>\n
The other I recognized from old company photographs.<\/p>\n
Thomas Mercer.<\/p>\n
All three were smiling.<\/p>\n
Caroline looked perhaps twenty-five.<\/p>\n
Alive.<\/p>\n
Unaware that someday her name would become a warning.<\/p>\n
I turned the photograph over.<\/p>\n
Handwriting appeared on the back.<\/p>\n
R, T & C \u2014 before everything went wrong.<\/p>\n
No date.<\/p>\n
I showed Daniel.<\/p>\n
\u201cCaroline knew them longer than we thought.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked at the photograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember that party.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat party?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBlackwood Development\u2019s tenth anniversary.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat would place Caroline with Richard and Thomas before the official employment records.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret stared at Caroline\u2019s face.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wasn\u2019t just an accountant.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was she?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked at Olivia.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Olivia shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, you do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMargaret\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTell them who your mother was.\u201d<\/p>\n
Olivia went silent.<\/p>\n
Daniel asked, \u201cWho was she?\u201d<\/p>\n
Olivia sat on the green sofa.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvelyn Vale.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvelyn helped Richard start the company.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was a founder?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUnofficially.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy isn\u2019t her name anywhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause women didn\u2019t receive much credit in Richard\u2019s version of history.\u201d<\/p>\n
Olivia gave a humorless laugh.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat part, at least, is true.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret pointed toward Caroline\u2019s photograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cCaroline grew up around the company. She knew where everything came from.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIncluding the early money?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s expression sharpened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich means Caroline may have known the ledger wasn\u2019t Richard\u2019s creation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara understood first.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Evelyn Vale helped establish the structures, the scheme predates the version Richard described in his letter.\u201d<\/p>\n
The conspiracy shifted again.<\/p>\n
Richard had written as though he and Thomas created the problem.<\/p>\n
Maybe they inherited it.<\/p>\n
Or maybe Richard had minimized Evelyn\u2019s role.<\/p>\n
Olivia whispered, \u201cMy mother always said Caroline knew the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBeginning of what?\u201d<\/p>\n
Olivia looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first property.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before she could explain, an officer entered carrying a tablet.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the street footage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel approached.<\/p>\n
The recording showed a dark SUV stopping outside at 9:16 that morning.<\/p>\n
A man exited.<\/p>\n
Baseball cap.<\/p>\n
Jacket.<\/p>\n
Face partially hidden.<\/p>\n
He climbed the stairs.<\/p>\n
Seven minutes later, he returned carrying nothing visible.<\/p>\n
He drove away.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you get the plate?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWorking on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I watched again.<\/p>\n
Something about the man bothered me.<\/p>\n
His walk.<\/p>\n
A slight stiffness in the left leg.<\/p>\n
Familiar.<\/p>\n
\u201cPause.\u201d<\/p>\n
The officer did.<\/p>\n
\u201cGo back.\u201d<\/p>\n
He replayed it.<\/p>\n
The man descended the stairs.<\/p>\n
Left foot.<\/p>\n
Right.<\/p>\n
A tiny hesitation.<\/p>\n
I knew that walk.<\/p>\n
I had watched it cross my father\u2019s living room dozens of times.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not Ethan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know who it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone waited.<\/p>\n
I pointed at the screen.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father\u2019s former clerk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cName?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeter Lang.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret whispered, \u201cJudge Caldwell\u2019s clerk?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor eleven years.\u201d<\/p>\n
I had trusted Peter.<\/p>\n
He spoke at my father\u2019s funeral.<\/p>\n
He helped me organize chambers records.<\/p>\n
He had hugged me and told me my father considered me his greatest achievement.<\/p>\n
Daniel asked, \u201cWhy would Peter know about the key?\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt sick.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause he handled Dad\u2019s safe-deposit records.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen 317 may be a bank-box number.\u201d<\/p>\n
I called Peter.<\/p>\n
No answer.<\/p>\n
Again.<\/p>\n
Voicemail.<\/p>\n
Daniel contacted law enforcement.<\/p>\n
Within minutes they were searching for him.<\/p>\n
Then Olivia noticed something on the floor beneath the desk.<\/p>\n
A tiny torn strip of yellow paper.<\/p>\n
The officer photographed it and lifted it with tweezers.<\/p>\n
Three handwritten characters remained.<\/p>\n
317.<\/p>\n
And beneath them, part of another number.<\/p>\n
42\u2014<\/p>\n
Mara stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat could be an address.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOr account number,\u201d Daniel said.<\/p>\n
I knew the handwriting.<\/p>\n
My father\u2019s.<\/p>\n
The key had been here.<\/p>\n
Peter had taken it.<\/p>\n
But he had missed whatever note had once accompanied it.<\/p>\n
I looked around Caroline\u2019s studio.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would Dad send Peter here?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel answered carefully.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe he didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
My phone rang.<\/p>\n
Unknown number.<\/p>\n
I answered before anyone could stop me.<\/p>\n
No one spoke.<\/p>\n
Then a man breathed into the line.<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire?\u201d<\/p>\n
I knew the voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeter?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel immediately signaled for silence.<\/p>\n
Peter sounded terrified.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou broke into Caroline Vale\u2019s studio.\u201d<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father told me what to do if the Blackwoods ever found the archive.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart pounded.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo move the key.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t tell you over the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeter, where are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
His breathing quickened.<\/p>\n
Then he said something that made Daniel stand.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone followed me.\u201d<\/p>\n
A noise sounded in the background.<\/p>\n
A car door.<\/p>\n
Peter whispered, \u201cClaire, if I don\u2019t call again, box 317 is not the destination.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the first door.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst door to what?\u201d<\/p>\n
A second voice sounded faintly behind him.<\/p>\n
Peter gasped.<\/p>\n
The line went dead.<\/p>\n
We did not rush to Caroline\u2019s studio. Every instinct in me wanted to. Daniel refused. \u201cIf whoever sent that photograph wants us there immediately, we do the opposite.\u201d Olivia paced … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28247","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\/28247","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=28247"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28293,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28247\/revisions\/28293"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/28237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}