Chapter 3 - The Man Who Changed the Clocks
There were sixty-three clocks inside the Duca estate.
I knew because I had ordered every one of them checked that night.
Sophie sat at the kitchen counter eating crackers while Marco's team inspected the house.
One clock was missing.
The clock in the old east hallway.
The corridor connecting the private medical wing to the bedrooms.
"Why does that matter?" I asked.
Sophie kicked her feet beneath the chair.
"Because Mommy said the clocks were wrong."
"When?"
"When she was alive."
Evelyn was brought into the library.
She looked tired.
Older than she had that morning.
Her hands trembled.
"Evelyn," I said, "you have five minutes to tell me why your daughter has been carrying a key to my wife's desk for three years."
She looked at Sophie.
Then at me.
"Because Isabella trusted me."
My jaw tightened.
"And you didn't tell me."
"I was scared."
"Of whom?"
She was silent.
I slammed my palm onto the desk.
"Of whom?"
"Your chief of security."
The room went silent.
I looked at Marco.
Evelyn quickly continued.
"Not Marco. The previous one."
Victor Raines.
My former security chief.
He had resigned four months after Isabella died.
At the time, I assumed he was overwhelmed by grief and pressure.
Then he vanished.
"What did Victor do?"
Evelyn wiped her eyes.
"He knew Isabella was investigating Lucas's illness."
"Why?"
"Because Lucas wasn't sick before the explosion."
My heart tightened.
"What are you saying?"
Evelyn took a breath.
"Three months before Isabella died, Lucas started having stomach pain. Then headaches. Then weakness. Isabella thought it was stress."
"But?"
"She noticed a pattern."
"What pattern?"
"Whenever she was away from the estate, Lucas improved."
I froze.
"That makes no sense."
"It did to her."
Evelyn explained that Isabella had kept a handwritten record of Lucas's symptoms.
Whenever he spent weekends at his grandmother's house, his fever dropped.
Whenever they traveled, his appetite returned.
Whenever they returned home, he worsened again.
She suspected the house.
Not a person.
The house.
Specifically, something in the ventilation system.
I remembered the estate's age.
It had been renovated six years earlier.
New HVAC.
New insulation.
New plumbing.
The work had been supervised by a private contractor recommended by Victor.
"What's in the ventilation system?"
"Nothing obvious."
"Then why did Isabella think it was involved?"
Evelyn looked at Sophie.
"Because the children noticed it first."
"What children?"
"There were two other families on staff at the time."
I frowned.
"And?"
"Both families complained about headaches."
I felt sick.
"Why didn't anyone tell me?"
"Because Victor told them to keep quiet."
Marco stepped forward.
"Why?"
Evelyn shook her head.
"He said the house was safe."
I stared at her.
"Where's Victor now?"
"Dead."
I looked up.
"What?"
"He died eighteen months ago."
My stomach twisted.
"How?"
"Car accident."
Of course.
Another accident.
I turned away.
Sophie suddenly spoke from the corner.
"He wasn't the only one."
I looked at her.
"Who else?"
She pointed toward the old hallway.
"Mommy's friend."
"Who?"
"Dr. Green."
I remembered the name.
Dr. Amelia Green.
A pediatric toxicologist Isabella had contacted shortly before her death.
The doctor had died in a boating accident two weeks after Isabella.
At the time, I had not connected the deaths.
Now they were beginning to form a pattern.
I called Marco.
"Find everything on Amelia Green."
He nodded.
"Already doing it."
Ten minutes later, he returned with a thin folder.
Inside was a copy of a lab report.
I read it twice.
The report showed abnormal levels of a chemical compound in Lucas's blood.
Something that could cause neurological symptoms, gastrointestinal distress, chronic fatigue, and eventually cardiac damage.
But the result had been crossed out.
A handwritten note appeared beside it.
Contamination suspected.
The sample should be discarded.
I felt my vision narrow.
"Who signed this?"
Dr. Nathan Hale.
I stood slowly.
"So Hale knew."
Marco shook his head.
"Maybe."
"No."
I stared at the signature.
"He didn't just know."
I remembered what Sophie had said.
The man who changes the clocks.
A thought hit me.
I walked toward the security control room.
There were sixteen monitors.
Every corridor.
Every entrance.
Every medical room.
Every floor.
"Show me the third-floor footage from three years ago."
The technician hesitated.
"Sir, archived footage was corrupted."
"All of it?"
"Mostly."
"Mostly?"
He swallowed.
"Only certain periods."
I studied the screen.
"Which periods?"
"The same hour each night."
"What hour?"
"2:17 a.m."
A chill ran through me.
Isabella died at 2:17 a.m.
I looked at the clocks.
One of them read 2:16.
Another read 2:18.
The clocks weren't synchronized.
They were being manipulated.
I turned to Marco.
"Who has access to the master time server?"
"The security administration."
"Who?"
He checked.
Then went pale.
"Daniel Voss."
I knew the name.
Daniel had been my financial controller for eight years.
He had handled payroll.
Medical payments.
Insurance.
Property maintenance.
He knew every department.
Every expense.
Every contractor.
Every door.
And, most importantly, every clock.
Before I could say another word, the lights went out.
Lucas's heart monitor screamed from upstairs.
The house plunged into darkness.
Then a single emergency light flickered on.
Sophie grabbed my hand.
"Lorenzo."
It was the first time she had called me by my name.
May you like
Her voice was shaking.
"The bad man knows."
