Chapter 3 - THE FIRE BEHIND THE WALLS
Flames poured from the upper windows of Hawthorne Manor.
Firefighters surrounded the estate.
Guests stood behind police barriers while reporters gathered along the road.
Ethan arrived with Detective Ruiz twenty minutes after receiving the call.
Claire remained at the hospital under police protection.
The east wing burned brighter than the rest of the house.
It was the only section Eleanor had forbidden staff members from entering.
Ethan watched firefighters break through a side door.
“Where is my aunt?”
Detective Ruiz asked.
Security Chief Grant Keller approached them.
His gray suit smelled of smoke.
“We haven’t found her.”
“You were responsible for securing the house.”
“I was evacuating guests.”
“Did you see Eleanor leave?”
“No.”
Detective Ruiz stepped closer.
“Did you see anyone enter the east wing?”
Grant hesitated.
“No.”
Ethan noticed the pause.
“You’re lying.”
Grant looked at him.
“I’ve served your family for twenty-three years.”
“That wasn’t an answer.”
A firefighter emerged carrying a black metal case.
The exterior had been damaged by heat, but the lock remained intact.
“We found this behind a false wall.”
Ethan reached for it.
Detective Ruiz stopped him.
“It’s evidence.”
The firefighter set the case on a protective sheet.
The silver key fit the lock.
Inside were several folders, a portable hard drive, and a photograph.
The photograph showed Ethan’s father standing beside Eleanor on a private dock.
A handwritten date appeared on the back.
It had been taken three months after his father’s supposed death.
Ethan stared at it.
“That’s impossible.”
Detective Ruiz examined the image.
“Who took this?”
Ethan turned it over again.
There was no name.
Grant Keller stepped forward.
“That photograph is fake.”
Detective Ruiz looked at him.
“You recognized it very quickly.”
Grant’s face tightened.
Ethan lifted the first folder.
Inside were financial records showing payments from Hawthorne Holdings to a medical facility in northern Vermont.
The payments began one month after his father’s death.
They continued for twelve years.
Each payment was approved by Eleanor.
The patient’s name had been replaced by a number.
Patient 614.
Ethan felt the world tilt around him.
Detective Ruiz took the folder.
“We need to process everything in this case.”
A loud crash sounded inside the building.
Part of the east wing roof collapsed.
Firefighters shouted and pulled back.
Grant stepped away from the group.
Ethan watched him move toward a black SUV parked beyond the emergency vehicles.
“Where are you going?”
Grant did not answer.
Detective Ruiz signaled to two officers.
They intercepted him before he reached the vehicle.
Grant raised both hands.
“I was getting my phone.”
“Your phone is in your jacket pocket.”
Grant’s eyes shifted toward the burning house.
Detective Ruiz removed the phone.
The last outgoing call had been placed twelve minutes before the fire began.
The number belonged to Eleanor.
A new message appeared on the screen.
Grant tried to grab the phone.
An officer forced his arms behind his back.
Detective Ruiz read the message aloud.
“Destroy the archive.”
“Then bring me the girl.”
Ethan’s blood turned cold.
“What girl?”
Grant stared at the ground.
Detective Ruiz opened the message details.
Attached was a photograph.
It showed a little girl sleeping beneath a pink blanket.
She had dark hair.
She had Claire’s eyes.
Ethan looked at the image.
His voice broke.
“Who is she?”
Grant remained silent.
Detective Ruiz enlarged the photograph.
A handwritten card rested beside the sleeping child.
May you like
The card contained two words.
Ethan’s daughter.
