Chapter 4 - The Cleaning Lady Finds a Name No One Expected
The fire damaged half the east wing.
The mansion was evacuated.
News vans gathered outside the gates.
Reporters shouted questions.
Was the fire accidental?
Was the Whitmore family in danger?
Was Claire Whitmore's death being investigated again?
Ethan refused every interview.
Sarah stood in a guest cottage with Brooke wrapped in a blanket.
The little girl wouldn't let go of her hand.
“You can stay,” Ethan said.
Sarah looked at him.
“For how long?”
“Until this is over.”
Sarah shook her head.
“This isn't a vacation.”
“I know.”
“People are already watching me.”
“They were watching you before.”
Sarah stared.
“What does that mean?”
Ethan hesitated.
“I checked your background.”
Sarah's expression hardened.
“You investigated me.”
“I investigate everyone who works in my house.”
“Did you find anything?”
“No.”
“Then why are you still suspicious?”
“Because someone targeted the east wing after you opened that room.”
Sarah crossed her arms.
“You think I did it?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“I think you found something someone was willing to burn a house to destroy.”
Sarah looked down at Brooke.
The little girl was asleep against her side.
“What did Claire know?”
Ethan's face darkened.
“I don't know yet.”
Sarah pulled the ledger closer.
“The symbol.”
“Yes.”
“I've seen it before.”
“Where?”
“In your office.”
Ethan stared.
“Impossible.”
“Second drawer. Bottom folder.”
He immediately left.
Five minutes later, he returned with a black folder.
The silver bird was embossed on the corner.
Inside were financial transactions.
Millions of dollars.
Every payment linked to one name.
DANIEL WHITMORE.
Ethan's brother.
Sarah looked at him.
“Your brother.”
Ethan didn't speak.
His phone rang.
A detective from the state police.
“Mr. Whitmore?”
“Yes.”
“We found something.”
“What?”
“Your wife's car was tampered with before the crash.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
“How long before?”
“Three days.”
Sarah watched his face.
The detective continued.
“And there's a second matter.”
“What?”
“Your brother Daniel has been trying to contact your daughter.”
Ethan went still.
“Where is he?”
“We believe he's back in New York.”
Ethan ended the call.
Sarah asked:
“What are you going to do?”
“Find him.”
Brooke woke.
“Daddy?”
Ethan knelt.
“Yes?”
“Is Mommy alive?”
The question shattered him.
Sarah watched Ethan struggle for breath.
“No, sweetheart.”
“But you said her friends saw her.”
“I know.”
“Then maybe she wasn't dead.”
Ethan couldn't answer.
Sarah crouched beside them.
“Brooke.”
The child looked at her.
“Sometimes grown-ups don't know everything.”
Ethan looked at Sarah.
“And sometimes,” Sarah continued softly, “people leave clues because they want the truth found.”
Brooke nodded.
“I found one.”
She held up another key.
This one was gold.
Sarah stared.
“Where did you get that?”
“Mommy's doll.”
There were tears in Ethan's eyes.
“Brooke.”
She gave him the key.
“You can have it.”
Ethan took it.
On the key was a tiny engraved number.
Sarah suddenly remembered the estate's old storage rooms.
Room 317.
One of them had been sealed after a flood.
Ethan knew immediately.
“There is no room 317.”
Sarah frowned.
“There used to be.”
He looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“Because I found an old floor plan.”
They went to the basement.
Behind a wall panel sat a narrow staircase.
At the bottom was a metal door marked 317.
The gold key opened it.
Inside was a small archive.
Boxes.
Hard drives.
Photographs.
And a child's drawing.
Brooke picked it up.
Three figures.
A woman.
A little girl.
A man.
Above them was written:
WE WILL BE TOGETHER AGAIN.
Sarah's heart pounded.
Then Ethan found a video file.
He opened it.
Claire appeared on screen.
Her face was bruised.
She was alive.
“Ethan,” she said.
He stopped breathing.
“If you're watching this, I failed.”
Sarah covered Brooke's ears.
Claire continued.
“Daniel is not the only person involved.”
Ethan leaned toward the screen.
“I discovered that someone has been using the Whitmore Foundation to move money.”
She looked directly into the camera.
“Ethan, the person you trust most has been helping them.”
The video ended.
Ethan turned toward Sarah.
“Who?”
Sarah didn't answer.
Because she had suddenly remembered something.
The first day she met Nancy, the housekeeper had asked a strange question.
Had Sarah ever worked at the old Whitmore residence?
Why would she ask that?
May you like
Unless Nancy already knew her.
Unless Sarah wasn't hired by accident.
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