Chapter 4 - My Father's Final Warning Was Hidden in an Old WatchLeah moved quickly.
She pushed Rowan and Graham toward the back stairwell while calling emergency services.
The stranger forced the apartment door moments after they escaped.
They reached the street and climbed into Graham's car.
Only when they were several blocks away did Rowan realize her hands were trembling.
“Who was that?” Graham asked.
Leah shook her head.
“Someone who knew we had the footage.”
Rowan looked at her husband.
“Your mother knows we're investigating.”
Graham gripped the steering wheel.
“I'll confront her.”
“No.”
“She can't keep doing this.”
“And confronting her without evidence gives her time to destroy everything.”
Graham glanced at Rowan.
“You don't trust me.”
She met his eyes.
“You taught me not to.”
They returned to Portsmouth.
Rowan took out Arthur's pocket watch.
She examined the hidden compartment under a magnifying lens and discovered a second latch.
Inside was a tiny brass key.
An engraved number appeared along its edge.
317.
Graham recognized the number.
“That's an old storage room at Mercer House.”
Rowan stared at him.
“Where?”
“The basement. The original archive wing.”
That night, Leah arranged for a court-authorized evidence preservation request through the investigating detective, Elena Brooks.
Rowan also contacted an independent attorney, Sarah Whitcomb, who advised her not to enter Mercer House secretly.
Instead, Sarah obtained permission for a supervised inspection of documents connected to Rowan's employment and her father's estate.
Two days later, Rowan returned to the mansion.
Margaret greeted her in the entrance hall.
“How brave of you to come back.”
Rowan looked at the woman who had humiliated her.
“I didn't come for you.”
Margaret's gaze moved to Graham.
“Have you lost your senses?”
Graham answered quietly.
“I've started using them.”
For the first time in Rowan's memory, Margaret looked genuinely surprised.
Detective Brooks accompanied them downstairs.
Room 317 was concealed behind an old archive cabinet.
The brass key opened a narrow metal compartment.
Inside were three ledgers, a collection of photographs, and a sealed letter addressed to Rowan.
Her father's handwriting covered the envelope.
She opened it carefully.
My dearest Rowan,
If you are reading this, then the people I feared have finally come looking for what I kept.
I wanted to tell you the truth while I was alive. I failed because I was afraid that knowing would place you in danger.
Eleanor Ashcroft did not die in the harbor.
Rowan stopped reading.
Graham stared at her.
She continued.
She discovered that the Mercer family had been replacing valuable gemstones with imitations and selling the originals through private intermediaries.
The eighth diamond was not merely part of her collection. It was the proof she used to expose the fraud.
I helped her escape.
And for twenty-three years, I have carried the guilt of leaving someone else behind.
The letter ended with an address.
A small town in Vermont.
Beneath it, Arthur had written:
Eleanor knows who ordered the accident.
Margaret appeared in the archive doorway.
She saw the letter.
Her face drained of color.
“Arthur,” she whispered.
May you like
Then she looked at Rowan.
“Your father should have burned that years ago.”
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