Chapter 4 - The Woman Behind the Locked Door.
James found Vanessa in the west sitting room ten minutes later.
She had changed out of the wet silk robe and into a cream sweater and black trousers.
A cup of tea rested untouched beside her.
She looked almost composed.
Almost.
James closed the door behind him.
“Where is the drive?”
Vanessa looked up slowly.
“What drive?”
“The one that disappeared from the records room while I was chasing Arthur Bell through my courtyard.”
Her expression did not move.
“You saw Arthur?”
James noticed the wording immediately.
She had not asked who Arthur was.
“I fired him six months ago.”
“I know.”
“Then why was he in my house tonight?”
Vanessa lifted her tea and took a small sip.
“I have no idea.”
James sat across from her.
“You are not a good liar when you are angry.”
“I am not lying.”
“You changed the security code.”
“I upgraded the system.”
“You locked me out of my own records room.”
“I secured it.”
“You told me there was water damage in a hallway that never had water damage.”
Vanessa set the cup down harder than necessary.
“You want a confession to something, James.”
“I want the truth.”
“No.”
Her voice sharpened.
“You want to walk into a room, look intimidating, and have everyone arrange reality around whatever conclusion you already reached.”
James leaned back.
“Then surprise me.”
Vanessa stared at him.
“Tell me a version of tonight that makes sense.”
She said nothing.
James waited.
Finally, Vanessa lowered her voice.
“Arthur contacted me two months ago.”
James did not react visibly.
“He said your family trust contained an old defect.”
“What defect?”
“He said several parcels connected to the estate had never been transferred correctly after your father died.”
“That is false.”
“You did not even let me finish.”
“Because I reviewed those transfers personally.”
“Arthur said you missed something.”
James’s gaze stayed fixed on her.
“What did he want from you?”
“To help organize the records.”
“By forging my signature?”
Vanessa’s face tightened.
“I never forged anything.”
James placed the false authorization on the coffee table.
“Then explain why this was prepared in a room you controlled.”
“I can’t.”
“You can.”
“I won’t guess just to satisfy you.”
James was about to answer when the sitting-room door opened.
Mrs. Alvarez stood there, visibly uneasy.
“I am sorry, Mr. Mercer.”
“What is it?”
“Emma asked me to bring you upstairs.”
Vanessa immediately stood.
“Why?”
Mrs. Alvarez looked at James instead of her.
“She found someone.”
James rose.
“Someone?”
Mrs. Alvarez nodded.
“In the old nursery.”
The old nursery had been locked for years.
James’s sister had used it when she visited with her children, but since she moved overseas, the room had become storage.
The four of them crossed the upstairs gallery.
Emma waited near a narrow door at the end of the hall.
She looked frightened again, but not the way she had looked on the porch.
This fear carried confusion with it.
“What happened?” James asked.
Emma pointed toward the room.
“I heard something.”
“From inside?”
“Yes.”
Vanessa moved forward quickly.
“That room is empty.”
Emma looked at her.
“No, it isn’t.”
James tried the handle.
Locked.
Vanessa folded her arms.
“The key is probably downstairs.”
James studied her face.
“You know it is locked.”
“It is always locked.”
Emma shook her head.
“It wasn’t yesterday.”
Vanessa turned on her.
“You have suddenly become an expert on every locked room in this house.”
James stepped between them.
“Enough.”
He called the estate maintenance manager, Walter Finch, who lived in a cottage near the greenhouse.
Walter arrived eight minutes later carrying a master key ring and looking as though he had been dragged from sleep.
He unlocked the nursery.
The room was dark.
The curtains were closed.
A desk lamp glowed near the far wall.
Someone sat in the armchair beside it.
James stopped in the doorway.
Paul Reyes, the missing security chief, looked back at him.
Paul’s jacket was gone.
His phone sat on the desk several feet away.
His expression was exhausted and furious.
“Mr. Mercer.”
James entered.
“What are you doing in here?”
Paul looked past him toward Vanessa.
“I was told not to leave.”
James turned slowly.
Vanessa’s face had gone pale.
Paul continued.
“She said there had been a security breach and that I needed to stay here until Arthur arrived.”
James looked back at him.
“Why would you agree to that?”
Paul gave a bitter laugh.
“I didn’t.”
He pointed at the outside lock.
“The door locked behind me.”
Vanessa shook her head immediately.
“That is absurd.”
Paul stood.
“Then ask her why she took my administrator card.”
James looked at Vanessa.
She said nothing.
Paul reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded note.
“I found this under the chair.”
James opened it.
The handwriting was Arthur Bell’s.
There were only six words.
KEEP REYES QUIET UNTIL FRIDAY MORNING.
James looked up.
Paul’s expression had changed.
“Friday morning is when the property transfer activates, isn’t it?”
Vanessa backed toward the hallway.
James spoke quietly.
“Don’t.”
She stopped.
May you like
For the first time that night, Vanessa looked less like someone hiding a mistake.
She looked like someone trapped inside a plan that was starting to collapse.
