Chapter 3 - The Empty Elevator.
Marcus locked the bedroom wing within thirty seconds.
Every employee on the floor was moved into the main salon.
The penthouse staff included two housekeepers, a chef, a driver, Nora, Dr. Reed, and three members of security.
Celeste sat alone on the white sofa with one leg crossed over the other.
She looked more offended than frightened.
Adrian stood beneath the chandelier and studied every face.
Someone inside his home had photographed him from the hall.
Someone had his private security credential.
Someone had deleted camera footage.
And someone had known he was thinking about the cellar before he told anyone outside Helena’s bedroom.
Marcus collected every phone.
Celeste refused at first.
Adrian held out his hand.
“Give it to him.”
She stared at him.
“You cannot confiscate my property.”
“Then leave.”
“The elevators are locked.”
“I’ll unlock one.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You would throw me out at one thirty in the morning?”
“If that’s the choice you want to make.”
Celeste placed her phone in Marcus’s evidence pouch.
Nora sat near Dr. Reed with a cold compress against her forehead.
Adrian looked at her.
She looked away.
The camera still showing a woman in a nurse uniform had changed something between them.
He believed her explanation about the shoes.
He did not yet know if belief was the same as trust.
Marcus approached.
“No matching outgoing message on any device we collected.”
“What about staff tablets?”
“Checked.”
“Security room?”
“Checked.”
“Hidden devices?”
“We’re sweeping now.”
Adrian looked toward the ceiling.
The penthouse had been renovated two years earlier.
Celeste had selected the interior firm.
That thought settled badly.
He crossed the room.
“Celeste.”
She looked up.
“What company installed the smart-home system?”
Her expression did not move.
“Hollis Integrated.”
“You hired them.”
“I recommended them.”
“Who signed the contract?”
“You did.”
Adrian remembered.
She had placed the papers beside his breakfast before a flight to Chicago.
He had signed without reading the vendor details.
It had seemed harmless.
He looked at Marcus.
“Pull every employee on that installation.”
Marcus nodded.
Celeste leaned back.
“Are we done pretending this is about a nurse?”
Adrian sat opposite her.
“No.”
“Good.”
“What is it about?”
She studied him.
“Your family’s favorite habit.”
“Which is?”
“Burying ugly things and blaming everyone else when the ground moves.”
Nora looked over.
Adrian kept his voice neutral.
“What do you know about Ewen?”
Celeste smiled faintly.
“That he died when you were twenty-one.”
“You saw the photograph.”
“I saw a photograph of someone who resembles him.”
“You knew the name before tonight.”
“So did half the city when the fire happened.”
“Why did you tell Nora her fingerprints would be on the medication bottle?”
Celeste’s smile faded.
“Because she handles it.”
“You said it before anyone accused her.”
“Common sense.”
“Why were you dragging her?”
“She was stealing from your mother.”
“What?”
Celeste reached into the pocket sewn into her dress.
Marcus moved immediately.
She raised one eyebrow.
“It’s a handkerchief.”
She removed a folded white cloth and placed it on the table.
Inside was a diamond brooch.
Adrian recognized it.
It had belonged to his grandmother.
“I found that in Nora’s pocket.”
Nora stood so fast the cold compress fell.
“That is a lie.”
Celeste did not look at her.
“She went through Helena’s desk, and this was in her uniform.”
“You put it there.”
“Prove it.”
Nora’s face flushed with anger.
“You were standing behind me when I opened the drawer.”
“You were already wearing the uniform.”
“I never touched that brooch.”
Adrian lifted the jewelry carefully.
He remembered his mother wearing it at Ewen’s memorial service.
The memory struck with bitter precision.
“Where did you find it?”
Celeste pointed toward Nora.
“Right pocket.”
Nora immediately turned the pocket inside out.
A loose seam hung from the lining.
She stared at it.
“That seam wasn’t open before.”
Marcus stepped closer.
He examined it.
“Looks recently cut.”
Celeste gave a soft laugh.
“Of course it does.”
Adrian looked at her.
“What does that mean?”
“It means every piece of evidence will suddenly have an explanation because you want the nurse to be innocent.”
Nora stared at Adrian.
For a moment, he saw a new fear in her face.
Not fear of Celeste.
Fear that he might believe Celeste.
He placed the brooch on the table.
“Marcus, bag it.”
Celeste stood.
“Adrian.”
He did not answer.
“You are making a mistake.”
“Probably.”
Her expression shifted.
“That doesn’t sound like you.”
“It sounds exactly like me.”
He stepped closer.
“I make mistakes.”
“What I don’t do is pretend I didn’t make them after I see one.”
Celeste’s face hardened.
Before she could respond, one of Marcus’s security men entered with a small black device.
“We found this behind the hall thermostat.”
Marcus took it.
“What is it?”
“Micro camera with wireless relay.”
Adrian looked at Celeste.
She remained still.
The guard continued.
“There are three more.”
“Where?”
“Bedroom corridor, library, and Mrs. Vale’s room.”
Nora’s mouth opened.
Celeste spoke first.
“Your security company installed those.”
Marcus stared at her.
“No.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because they’re not part of our network.”
Adrian looked at the device.
“Where does it transmit?”
The guard hesitated.
“We’re tracing it.”
A chime sounded from the wall panel.
Everyone turned.
The private elevator indicator had changed from red to green.
Marcus swore under his breath.
“I locked that.”
The elevator began climbing.
Forty.
Forty-one.
Forty-two.
Adrian’s penthouse occupied the forty-third floor.
Marcus signaled his men toward the foyer.
Adrian turned to Nora.
“Stay here.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“That wasn’t a request.”
Celeste smiled faintly.
Nora saw it.
Something in her expression changed.
“Mr. Vale.”
Adrian paused.
Nora pointed toward the elevator display.
“The service elevator skips forty-two.”
Marcus looked at her.
“So?”
“So whoever is coming up is using the private elevator.”
Adrian understood.
Only six people had permanent access.
He had a key.
Marcus had a key.
Helena had one.
Celeste had one.
Adrian’s late father’s key had been deactivated.
The sixth had belonged to Ewen.
The elevator bell rang.
No one breathed.
The brass doors opened.
The car was empty.
A single brown envelope lay on the floor.
Marcus checked the elevator before allowing Adrian near it.
Adrian picked up the envelope.
His name was written across the front in handwriting he recognized before he understood why.
Ewen had always made the capital A too large.
Adrian tore it open.
Inside was a photograph.
Not old.
Recent.
Ewen stood outside a diner somewhere rural.
He was older.
Thinner.
A pale scar crossed his left temple.
But it was him.
Behind the photograph was a note.
ADRIAN,
IF MOM TOLD YOU, IT MEANS SHE RAN OUT OF TIME.
DO NOT TRUST THE WOMAN YOU ARE MARRYING.
DO NOT TRUST THE MAN WHO GUARDS YOUR DOOR.
AND DO NOT COME LOOKING FOR ME UNTIL YOU KNOW WHAT FATHER DID.
Adrian read the second warning twice.
Then he looked up.
May you like
Marcus stood ten feet away.
His face had gone completely still.
