Chapter 2 - The White Vent.
Adrian placed Noah behind him as the service door opened.
Eleanor Vance stepped into the dining room wearing a charcoal evening dress and the same composed expression she used whenever a problem threatened the smooth surface of Mercer House.
She was in her late fifties, silver-blond hair pinned perfectly at the nape of her neck, and not a single detail about her suggested she had been rushing.
Her gaze moved from Adrian to Daniel, then to Emma on the bench.
“What happened?” Eleanor asked.
Daniel watched her more carefully than he answered.
“Emma collapsed.”
Eleanor’s eyes narrowed by a fraction.
“Again?”
Emma sat straighter.
“What do you mean, again?”
Eleanor gave Adrian a tired look.
“I told you last month that she seemed exhausted.”
Adrian remembered the conversation.
Eleanor had suggested Emma take fewer evening shifts because she was supposedly distracted around Noah.
At the time, Adrian had dismissed it as ordinary household management.
Now the memory felt different.
Emma shook her head.
“I have never fainted here before.”
Eleanor stepped toward the bench.
“No one said fainted.”
Daniel quietly opened the briefcase again.
“I did.”
The room became still.
Eleanor’s attention dropped to the papers inside.
For the first time, her composure shifted.
It was small, but Adrian saw it.
“What are those?” she asked.
“Estate invoices.”
“I handle the invoices.”
“That is why I am here.”
Eleanor looked at Adrian.
“Should we really discuss financial paperwork while your employee is unwell?”
Emma started to stand, but Adrian held up a hand.
“Stay seated.”
She obeyed reluctantly.
Noah slipped his small hand into hers.
Eleanor noticed the gesture and frowned.
“The boy should be upstairs.”
“No,” Noah said.
Everyone turned toward him.
He tightened his grip on Emma’s fingers.
“She told me not to sit by the wall.”
Adrian crouched in front of his son.
“When did she tell you that?”
“Before she fell asleep.”
Emma’s eyes widened.
“I remember now.”
She looked toward the white vent.
“I heard the clicking sound, and then there was that strange smell.”
She swallowed.
“I moved Noah away from the bookcase.”
Daniel turned to Adrian.
“She may have kept him from being closer to whatever came through that vent.”
Eleanor’s voice hardened.
“That is speculation.”
“Then help me eliminate it,” Daniel said.
He pulled out one of the access logs.
“The maintenance corridor was opened at 7:41 p.m.”
Adrian checked his watch.
Emma had collapsed at roughly 7:45.
Eleanor folded her arms.
“I walked through the corridor after dinner to inspect the service pantry.”
“With whose key?” Daniel asked.
“My own.”
“Where is it?”
Eleanor reached into a small pocket hidden in her dress.
Her hand stopped.
She checked the other side.
Then her expression changed.
The key was gone.
Noah pointed toward the floor behind her.
“Is that it?”
A brass key lay near the service door.
Eleanor bent to retrieve it, but Daniel moved first.
“Don’t touch it.”
Adrian stared at the key, then at Eleanor.
She gave him a look of wounded disbelief.
“You cannot seriously think I had anything to do with this.”
Adrian wanted to say no.
Twenty-three years of loyalty stood behind her.
Yet Daniel’s papers lay open on the table, and Emma was still pale.
A second click came from inside the wall.
This time everyone heard it.
Eleanor looked toward the vent.
Her face lost color.
“That system should be turned off,” she said.
Daniel’s eyes sharpened.
May you like
“How do you know it is on?”
Eleanor did not answer.
