The name on the document was Daniel Mercer.<\/p>\n
Rebecca had known him for seven years.<\/p>\n
He had been the company's senior financial controller and one of the first people she approached when she discovered irregular transfers.<\/p>\n
He had listened.<\/p>\n
He had asked questions.<\/p>\n
He had encouraged her to keep records.<\/p>\n
When Rebecca disappeared, Daniel had been among the employees who publicly demanded an investigation.<\/p>\n
She remembered him standing outside the courthouse.<\/p>\n
She remembered him telling reporters that Rebecca had been treated terribly.<\/p>\n
Now his name was connected to the account that had financed the operation against her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI trusted him,\u201d Rebecca said.<\/p>\n
The investigator nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat appears to be why he was useful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca looked sick.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does he know about Sophie?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don't know yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
That answer frightened her more than anything else.<\/p>\n
The next morning, Daniel was questioned.<\/p>\n
He denied everything.<\/p>\n
He said the account belonged to a consulting company he had advised years earlier.<\/p>\n
He claimed he had no knowledge of the storage unit.<\/p>\n
He said the photograph of Sophie meant nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was a child attending the school,\u201d he said. \u201cSomeone could have taken a picture without my knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n
The investigator placed another photograph on the table.<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at it.<\/p>\n
His expression changed.<\/p>\n
It showed him standing outside the school.<\/p>\n
He was looking directly toward Sophie.<\/p>\n
Daniel said nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy were you there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was visiting someone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don't remember?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The investigator pushed a second photograph across the table.<\/p>\n
Daniel's face tightened.<\/p>\n
This one showed him outside Rebecca's house.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you remember now?\u201d<\/p>\n
He remained silent.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Rebecca struggled with a different question.<\/p>\n
Why had Daniel helped her before betraying her?<\/p>\n
Her attorney believed he had been trying to determine how much she knew.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe needed to keep you close,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo every time I told him something\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe learned something.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
She remembered conversations she had forgotten.<\/p>\n
The questions Daniel asked.<\/p>\n
The meetings he suggested.<\/p>\n
The documents he told her not to copy.<\/p>\n
The day he advised her to stop looking into a particular vendor because it would \u201ccomplicate things.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the time, she had thought he was protecting her.<\/p>\n
He had been protecting himself.<\/p>\n
That evening, Sophie was unusually quiet.<\/p>\n
Rebecca noticed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat's wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sophie shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat's not true.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sophie stared at her dinner.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember Daniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca's hand stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou met him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe came to school.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore you disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sophie looked uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe asked me where you were.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca's face went pale.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you tell him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat you were working.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he ask anything else?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sophie nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe asked whether I was going home with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca stood.<\/p>\n
The room suddenly felt too small.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he ever come inside our house?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sophie thought.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe day before you got sick.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca sat back down.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe talked to Marlene.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the kitchen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sophie looked toward her mother.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were arguing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca's voice dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat were they arguing about?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you hear anything?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sophie nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarlene said she wasn't going to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo what?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sophie shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
The investigators returned.<\/p>\n
They asked Sophie the same questions gently.<\/p>\n
She remembered one more detail.<\/p>\n
Daniel had brought a small black case.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said it was for the medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat medicine?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
The investigators searched the old case records.<\/p>\n
No prescription matched.<\/p>\n
No doctor had sent medicine.<\/p>\n
The next clue came from the storage unit.<\/p>\n
One of the old phones contained a photograph of the black case.<\/p>\n
It had been photographed on the kitchen counter.<\/p>\n
The timestamp was the day before Rebecca disappeared.<\/p>\n
The investigators enhanced the photograph.<\/p>\n
Beside the case was a glass of water.<\/p>\n
And behind it, partially visible, was a bottle.<\/p>\n
The label had been removed.<\/p>\n
Rebecca stared at the image.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never saw that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The investigator nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think it may explain why Marlene told people you were sick.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca's stomach turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWas I drugged?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don't know yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
The medical records from the time of her rescue were reviewed.<\/p>\n
Certain medications had been present in her system.<\/p>\n
Nothing conclusive had been documented because doctors initially believed her condition resulted from dehydration and prolonged confinement.<\/p>\n
Now they had a reason to look again.<\/p>\n
The testing confirmed it.<\/p>\n
Rebecca had been repeatedly sedated.<\/p>\n
The medication explained her confusion during the first days in the basement.<\/p>\n
It explained why she couldn't remember exactly when certain things happened.<\/p>\n
It explained why she had believed she was becoming sick.<\/p>\n
And it explained why Marlene had been able to tell people that Rebecca was sleeping.<\/p>\n
Rebecca cried when she heard.<\/p>\n
Not because she was surprised.<\/p>\n
Because she finally understood how carefully her captivity had been constructed.<\/p>\n
Someone had planned every part.<\/p>\n
The investigators arrested Daniel two days later.<\/p>\n
He still claimed he hadn't ordered Rebecca's imprisonment.<\/p>\n
He admitted moving money.<\/p>\n
He admitted monitoring her.<\/p>\n
He admitted providing information.<\/p>\n
But he blamed someone else for the basement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
He refused to answer.<\/p>\n
Then the prosecutor offered him a deal.<\/p>\n
His silence would not protect him forever.<\/p>\n
Daniel finally gave them a name.<\/p>\n
A name Rebecca recognized immediately.<\/p>\n
Her former employer.<\/p>\n
The company's chief executive.<\/p>\n
The man who had once told her, \u201cIf you ever see anything unusual, bring it to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca laughed bitterly when she heard.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was the person I was going to report.\u201d<\/p>\n
The investigation now had its center.<\/p>\n
The executive had ordered the financial fraud.<\/p>\n
He had arranged for Daniel to monitor Rebecca.<\/p>\n
He had recruited Marlene.<\/p>\n
But there was still one problem.<\/p>\n
The prosecutor asked Daniel where the missing blue folder was.<\/p>\n
Daniel said he didn't know.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho took it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho has it now?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel looked at the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou expect us to believe that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel finally looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never had it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The investigators checked every known location.<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
Then Sophie remembered the basement.<\/p>\n
Not the cabinet.<\/p>\n
Not the locked door.<\/p>\n
Something else.<\/p>\n
A sound.<\/p>\n
She told Rebecca about it that night.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was downstairs, I heard the washing machine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn't washing clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was it doing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sophie closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt made a clicking sound.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLike a box opening.\u201d<\/p>\n
They returned to the house with investigators.<\/p>\n
The basement had already been searched, but they checked it again.<\/p>\n
The washing machine stood against the wall.<\/p>\n
Behind it was a narrow utility compartment.<\/p>\n
Inside the compartment was an old metal box.<\/p>\n
Locked.<\/p>\n
The investigator opened it.<\/p>\n
There was nothing inside except a folded piece of blue paper.<\/p>\n
Rebecca's hands trembled.<\/p>\n
It wasn't the folder.<\/p>\n
It was the missing folder's cover.<\/p>\n
The contents were gone.<\/p>\n
Someone had removed them.<\/p>\n
But one thing had been left behind.<\/p>\n
A handwritten note.<\/p>\n
Rebecca recognized the handwriting immediately.<\/p>\n
It was hers.<\/p>\n
Only six words.<\/p>\n
If I disappear, look upstairs.<\/p>\n
She read it twice.<\/p>\n
Then she looked toward the ceiling.<\/p>\n
The investigators searched the rooms above.<\/p>\n
They found nothing.<\/p>\n
Until Sophie spoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe attic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat attic?\u201d Rebecca asked.<\/p>\n
Sophie pointed upward.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarlene never let me go there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The investigator looked at Rebecca.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew there was an attic?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the house had one.<\/p>\n
And when they opened the hatch, they found fresh footprints in the dust.<\/p>\n
Someone had been there recently.<\/p>\n
The name on the document was Daniel Mercer. Rebecca had known him for seven years. He had been the company's senior financial controller and one of the first people she … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7220,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7226","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\/7226","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=7226"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7261,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7226\/revisions\/7261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}