Chapter 3 - The Room Nobody EnteredThe screaming came from the nursery.
Dominic reached it first.
The door was locked.
Grace arrived behind him.
“Move.”
Dominic kicked the door.
It opened.
The nursery was empty.
The windows were closed.
The curtains were still.
Nothing looked disturbed.
Except for the crib.
Nora's old crib had been pushed away from the wall.
Behind it was a narrow black opening.
Dominic froze.
Grace whispered, “No.”
“What?”
“That room wasn't supposed to be accessible.”
Dominic shoved the crib aside.
The opening led into a hidden passage.
Cold air came from within.
He entered.
The corridor was barely wide enough for one man.
Brick walls.
Dust.
Old wiring.
The mansion had been built in the 1930s.
Dominic had owned it for nine years.
He had never known the passage existed.
A light bulb flickered ahead.
Someone had turned it on recently.
He moved forward.
At the end was a small room.
Inside stood a chair.
A table.
A tape recorder.
And hundreds of photographs.
Dominic stopped breathing.
Pictures of Isabelle.
Leaving the house.
Driving.
Shopping.
Picking up the girls.
Talking to Grace.
Talking to Dominic.
Some photographs were dated months before Isabelle's murder.
Others were taken after.
The final photograph was dated three days ago.
It showed Olivia standing in the garden.
Watching the house.
Dominic picked up the image.
On the back was a message.
SHE REMEMBERS.
A sound came from the recorder.
Dominic pressed play.
Static.
Then Isabelle's voice.
His dead wife's voice.
“Dominic, if you're hearing this, something happened to me.”
His fingers tightened around the machine.
Grace covered her mouth.
The recording continued.
“I know who is working against you.”
A pause.
“And I know why.”
Dominic whispered, “Isabelle…”
“She has been helping them.”
Dominic looked at Grace.
Grace stared at the floor.
“Who?” Dominic demanded.
The recording continued.
“The person you trust most.”
Static.
Then Isabelle's voice returned.
“If I die, the girls will remember the truth. They may stop speaking, but they will remember.”
Dominic's heart pounded.
“I need you to listen carefully. Do not interrogate them. Do not threaten them. Do not force them. The person who did this knows how you react.”
The recording stopped.
Dominic hit play again.
Nothing.
Then another voice appeared.
A man's voice.
“Isabelle.”
Dominic knew it immediately.
His face changed.
Vincent.
On the tape, Vincent said:
“You should have taken the money and left.”
Isabelle answered:
“You murdered the wrong people.”
Vincent laughed.
“No. I protected the right ones.”
Dominic's hand went to the gun.
The recording continued.
Isabelle said:
“You think Dominic doesn't know?”
“He knows nothing.”
“Then why are you afraid?”
Silence.
Vincent's voice came softly.
“Because you found the account.”
Dominic looked at Grace.
“What account?”
Grace didn't answer.
A loud metallic sound echoed somewhere in the passage.
Dominic turned.
The hidden door slammed shut behind them.
Grace rushed toward it.
Locked.
Dominic fired at the mechanism.
The shot deafened them.
Still locked.
The girls were outside.
Dominic grabbed the door.
“Grace!”
She turned.
“What?”
“Get my daughters out.”
“I'm not leaving you.”
“You don't understand. Whoever built this room knows these passages.”
Then a speaker crackled overhead.
A man's voice filled the room.
“Good evening, Dominic.”
Dominic went completely still.
Vincent.
“You finally found the room.”
Dominic shouted, “Come out!”
Vincent laughed.
“Oh, Dominic. I have been standing beside you for fourteen months.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“Who?”
The speaker went silent.
Then Vincent said:
“Ask yourself why your daughters trusted the housekeeper before they trusted you.”
Grace's face went pale.
Dominic looked at her.
“What did you do?”
She shook her head violently.
“I didn't kill Isabelle.”
“Then why did she record you?”
Grace stared at the recorder.
“I don't know.”
The speaker crackled again.
Vincent whispered:
“Because Grace Bennett was the last person your wife called before she died.”
The room went dark.
May you like
And Dominic heard Grace whisper:
“I lied to you about my name.”
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