Chapter 3 - THE LOCKED NURSERYSarah stared at the photograph.
“No.”
Arthur remained silent.
“I don’t understand.”
“I know.”
“Daniel wanted this baby.”
Arthur looked away.
“Did he?”
Sarah’s eyes filled with tears.
“For months he talked about names. He painted the nursery himself.”
Arthur sighed.
“That was what he wanted you to believe.”
Sarah gripped the blanket.
“Tell me everything.”
Arthur hesitated.
Then he placed the flash drive on the table.
“This may answer some of it.”
“What’s on it?”
“Security footage.”
“From where?”
“The nursery.”
Sarah’s face tightened.
“Why would anyone record the nursery?”
Arthur looked at her.
“Because someone was afraid you would discover something.”
He opened the drive on his laptop.
A video began.
Date.
Three weeks earlier.
Sarah watched herself entering the nursery.
She was holding folded baby clothes.
She smiled.
She placed a tiny yellow blanket inside the crib.
Then she left.
The hallway remained empty.
Five minutes passed.
Then the nursery door opened.
Eleanor entered.
Sarah leaned forward.
Eleanor walked directly to the crib.
She lifted the baby blanket.
Underneath it was a small envelope.
Eleanor opened it.
She read something.
Her expression changed.
Then she burned the paper in a small metal tray.
Sarah stopped breathing.
“What was that?”
Arthur paused the video.
“I don’t know.”
“Continue.”
The video resumed.
Eleanor made a phone call.
Daniel entered.
They spoke.
There was no audio.
But Arthur had enhanced another camera.
A second angle appeared.
Daniel pointed toward Sarah’s bedroom.
Eleanor shook her head.
Then Daniel said something.
Arthur zoomed in.
He had used lip-reading software.
The words appeared beneath the image.
After the birth.
Sarah whispered:
“After the birth… what?”
The video continued.
Another man entered.
The same man from the photograph.
He handed Eleanor the folder.
She opened it.
Inside were legal documents.
Arthur enlarged the screen.
Sarah saw her own name.
SARAH VANCE.
Then another name.
CHILD OF SARAH VANCE.
Then:
TRANSFER OF CUSTODY.
Sarah’s lips trembled.
“They planned to take my baby.”
Arthur nodded.
“Possibly.”
“No.”
Sarah stared at him.
“Not possibly.”
She pointed at the screen.
“They already made the documents.”
Arthur didn't answer.
Sarah’s breathing became faster.
“Where is Daniel?”
“I don’t know.”
“You said he was in Chicago.”
“That is what Eleanor told everyone.”
Sarah stared at him.
Arthur slowly opened another file.
Travel records.
Daniel had never gone to Chicago.
He had flown to Boston two days earlier.
Then disappeared.
Sarah looked sick.
“Why would he lie?”
Arthur finally said the thing he had been afraid to say.
“Because your husband may have been part of this from the beginning.”
Silence filled the room.
Then Sarah noticed something.
A small detail in the video.
Daniel removed a ring from his pocket.
He placed it on the nursery table.
Sarah stared.
“That ring…”
Arthur looked closer.
“You recognize it?”
“It belonged to Daniel’s father.”
Arthur’s face changed.
“That ring disappeared fifteen years ago.”
Sarah frowned.
“Why does that matter?”
Arthur paused the footage.
“Because I found that ring once.”
“Where?”
Arthur looked at her.
“In a room that officially doesn’t exist.”
Sarah’s pulse quickened.
“What room?”
Arthur stood.
“The old east wing.”
“The wing that’s been locked for years?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Arthur lowered his voice.
“Because of something that happened before you married Daniel.”
Sarah felt cold.
“What happened?”
Arthur looked toward the hospital door.
“I’ll show you.”
Sarah stared at him.
“You can’t take me anywhere. I’m in a hospital.”
“Then listen carefully.”
Arthur leaned closer.
“When I was hired forty years ago, Eleanor was already afraid of that room.”
“Afraid of what?”
Arthur’s eyes hardened.
“A woman.”
Sarah frowned.
“What woman?”
Arthur whispered her name.
“Clara Vance.”
Sarah blinked.
“Daniel’s mother?”
Arthur shook his head.
“No.”
He looked directly into her eyes.
“She was Daniel’s older sister.”
Sarah stared.
“That’s impossible.”
Arthur nodded.
“That’s what the family wanted everyone to believe.”
Before Sarah could respond, her phone rang.
Daniel.
His name appeared on the screen.
Sarah stared at it.
Arthur whispered:
“Don’t answer.”
She answered anyway.
“Daniel?”
For three seconds, there was nothing.
Then his voice came through.
“Sarah.”
She began to cry.
“Where are you?”
A long pause.
Then Daniel whispered:
“Listen to me carefully.”
Sarah gripped the phone.
“I’m listening.”
“Do not trust my mother.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
Then Daniel added:
“And whatever happens…”
His voice trembled.
“Do not let them take the baby.”
The call ended.
Sarah stared at the screen.
Then another message appeared.
One photo.
A dark room.
Daniel was tied to a chair.
May you like
Blood ran down his forehead.
Behind him stood Eleanor.
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