Chapter 5: The Body Beneath the Garden
Chapter 5: The Body Beneath the Garden
The radio slipped from Chief Harris's hand.
For the first time in nearly twenty years of working private security, his expression betrayed genuine shock.
"What body?" Grant demanded.
Harris immediately picked up the radio again.
"Report."
The guard's voice trembled through the speaker.
"We were searching the old rose garden for Mrs. Ashford. One of the K-9 units alerted near the fountain. Groundskeepers started digging."
A long pause followed.
Then came the words that chilled everyone in the room.
"We found human remains."
Grant felt the blood drain from his face.
"No..."
Officer Daniels looked toward his partner.
"Secure the entire property."
Within seconds, the mansion erupted into controlled chaos. Patrol cars arrived through the front gates. Crime-scene investigators poured onto the estate, stretching yellow tape across the gardens while photographers documented every inch of the excavation site.
Emma watched from the library window, Lily asleep in her lap after finally crying herself into exhaustion.
The flashing blue and red lights reflected across the glass.
Something was terribly wrong.
She looked toward the garden where dozens of investigators had gathered around the old stone fountain.
"What happened?" whispered one of the housemaids.
Emma didn't answer.
She simply held Lily tighter.
Outside, rain began falling in a slow, steady drizzle.
Detective Carla Monroe arrived twenty minutes later.
She had investigated Sophia Ashford's death two years earlier.
Back then, every piece of evidence had pointed toward a tragic accident.
Now...
Nothing made sense anymore.
She stepped beneath the crime-scene tent and examined the shallow grave.
The skeleton had been carefully wrapped in a decayed gray blanket.
A rusted chain remained attached around one ankle.
Monroe's eyes narrowed.
"This wasn't an accident."
The forensic technician nodded.
"The body appears to have been buried intentionally."
She crouched beside the remains.
"Male or female?"
"Too early to confirm."
"Approximate age?"
"Adult."
Monroe stood slowly.
She looked toward the mansion.
Someone inside that house had buried a body.
Maybe years ago.
Maybe while the family slept peacefully only a few hundred feet away.
Grant arrived moments later.
He stopped several yards from the grave.
His stomach turned.
"What... is this?"
Detective Monroe faced him.
"I wish I knew."
Grant glanced toward the remains before quickly looking away.
"Could it be Sophia?"
The forensic examiner gently shook his head.
"No."
Grant released a shaky breath.
Then immediately felt guilty for feeling relieved.
Someone else's family was still missing someone.
Someone else had spent years waiting for answers.
Back inside the mansion...
Renata sat alone in the study.
Her wrists were secured with temporary restraints while officers guarded both exits.
She stared out the rain-covered window without speaking.
Officer Daniels finally broke the silence.
"Did you know about the body?"
No response.
"Mrs. Ashford."
Still nothing.
Daniels sighed.
"You've already admitted enough to reopen a homicide investigation."
Renata slowly smiled.
"You think that's the worst thing buried on this estate?"
The officer frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Renata leaned back in her chair.
"You've only started digging."
Meanwhile...
Chief Harris ordered every archived security file copied onto three encrypted drives.
He no longer trusted the mansion's servers.
Too many recordings had disappeared over the years.
As technicians worked, one of them suddenly called out.
"Chief."
"What?"
"I found something."
Harris walked over.
The technician replayed an old maintenance log.
A timestamp appeared from eighteen months earlier.
The footage showed workers replacing landscaping around the rose garden.
Everything looked ordinary—
Until Harris noticed one familiar face.
Renata.
She wasn't supervising from the patio.
She was standing directly beside the workers.
Watching.
Every shovel of dirt.
Every wheelbarrow.
Every load of fresh soil.
She never looked away.
Harris quietly asked,
"Can you zoom in?"
The technician enlarged the image.
Renata handed one worker a thick white envelope.
Money.
The worker looked around before quickly slipping it inside his jacket.
Harris immediately copied the footage.
"Find out who that landscaper was."
Upstairs...
Emma gently covered Lily with a blanket.
The child stirred slightly.
Her eyes slowly opened.
"Emma?"
"I'm here."
Lily hesitated.
Then whispered,
"Is Daddy crying?"
Emma looked toward the hallway.
She could hear distant voices.
Police radios.
Footsteps.
Doors opening and closing.
Grant wasn't the same man who had entered the dressing room that morning.
His world had collapsed piece by piece.
"Your daddy is trying to find the truth."
Lily looked down.
"I remember something else."
Emma's heart skipped.
"What do you remember?"
The little girl closed her eyes.
"The night Mommy died..."
"...someone else was there."
Emma frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"I heard a man's voice."
Those words changed everything.
Because until now...
Everyone believed only three people had been on the staircase that night.
Sophia.
Renata.
And little Lily.
If Lily's memory was correct...
Then there had been a fourth witness.
Someone who had remained silent for two years.
Or someone who had never had the chance to speak.
Emma looked toward the rain-soaked garden where investigators continued uncovering the mysterious grave.
A terrible thought entered her mind.
What if the body buried beneath the roses...
May you like
...belonged to the missing witness?
End of Chapter 5 – Part 1
