Chapter 6 - THE RECORDING
Margaret contacted her attorney, Daniel Price, and asked him to secure
the mansion’s internal security system.
The recording device near the library door was not part of the official
system. It had been installed recently, hidden inside a decorative wall
fixture.
The technician traced it to a private security contractor hired by
Richard.
“He was recording you,” Daniel said.
“Can we recover the files?” Margaret asked.
“We can try.”
The next morning, the technician recovered several recordings. Most
contained ordinary conversations, but one file was different.
It showed Richard speaking with a man in the garage.
“The girl has the letter,” Richard said. “If she gives it to the
lawyers, the old records will come out.”
The man asked, “What do you want done?”
“Get the photograph and the envelope. Don’t hurt her unless she makes it
necessary.”
Emily went cold.
Margaret immediately called the police.
Richard was not at the mansion. His phone went to voicemail. His office
said he had canceled his appointments.
Daniel warned them not to leave the property alone.
But Emily had another question.
“What records does he mean?”
Margaret looked at the attorney.
Daniel hesitated.
“Your husband maintained a separate set of company books. There were
transfers that never appeared in the annual reports. Eleanor discovered
them.”
“Was money stolen?”
“Potentially. We need the original records.”
Margaret looked at Emily.
“Your mother may have kept copies.”
Emily remembered the envelope. She had brought it from her apartment,
but there had been no documents inside beyond the letter.
Then she recalled something else.
When she was little, her mother had kept a wooden sewing box beneath her
bed. After Rose died, Emily had taken it to a storage unit. She had
never opened the false bottom because it was stuck.
“There’s something I need to check,” she said.
Margaret arranged for a driver and two security officers to accompany
her.
At Emily’s old apartment, the storage box was exactly where she had left
it. She carried it to the table and examined the base.
A thin panel lifted when she pressed the corner.
Inside were three photographs, a small key, and a folded sheet of paper.
The paper contained a bank account number and a name:
Eleanor Whitmore — Trust Account 714.
Beneath it was a short message.
If you are reading this, the truth is ready to be found. Ask Margaret to
look inside the old chapel.
Emily stared at the words.
“My mother knew Margaret might find me.”
The driver glanced toward the window.
A black car had stopped across the street.
Two men stepped out.
One looked directly at Emily’s apartment.
The security officers moved toward the door.
“Stay behind us,” one ordered.
The men did not approach. They watched for a moment, then returned to
the car and drove away.
Emily clutched the paper.
May you like
The truth was no longer just a family secret.
Someone was still willing to hurt people to keep it hidden.
