He Heard Three Knocks During His Sister’s Funeral—But the Person Trying to Stop Him From Opening the Coffin Was Hiding the Truth

Chapter 09 - The Fire Behind the Locked Door

Smoke thickened quickly, turning the narrow archive into a gray maze. Claire ordered everyone to stay low while Daniel searched for another exit. Richard had designed the basement with a concealed emergency passage, but only Lily remembered the childish rhyme he used as a clue.

“Where the winter roses never die,” she coughed.

Daniel crawled toward a faded mural of white roses painted on the far wall. He pressed the center flower. A metal panel released, revealing a cramped service tunnel leading beneath the garden.

Claire carried the recorder. Daniel grabbed Richard’s laptop. An officer supported Reed, who had inhaled too much smoke. They moved through the tunnel as heat built behind them.

They emerged near the greenhouse just as flames broke through the study windows. Firefighters raced up the driveway. Vivian’s car was gone.

For several hours, the evidence seemed lost. The recorder’s casing had partially melted, and the laptop would not start. Claire sent both to the state laboratory with an emergency request.

By evening, the story had reached every local news station. Vivian appeared through her attorney and denied setting the fire. She claimed Daniel and Lily had manufactured a conspiracy to seize the estate. Edited footage from the funeral showed Daniel screaming at mourners and attacking the coffin, while Lily’s rescue was omitted.

Online comments turned cruel. Some called Lily a thief. Others accused the siblings of exploiting their father’s death.

Daniel wanted to answer every lie. Claire stopped him.

“Facts survive longer than outrage,” she said.

Lily was less certain. “What if the recorder is destroyed?”

“Then we build the case without it.”

Aunt Miriam arrived at the safe house carrying a battered leather planner. Richard had mailed it to her the day before he died with instructions not to open it unless both children were in danger.

Inside were dates, account numbers, and brief notes. One entry was circled three times: MEMORIAL GALA — FINAL TRANSFER — V + G + S.R.

The annual gala was scheduled for Saturday, four days away. Despite Richard’s death, Vivian had refused to cancel it.

“She still needs to move the money,” Lily said.

Daniel studied the final page. Richard had written another message beneath the entry.

Let them believe the trap belongs to them.