Chapter 5 - The Photograph from Inside the House.
Rainier reached the kitchen in seconds.
Melusine was exactly where the photograph showed her.
She sat on a stool beside her grandmother, both hands wrapped around a mug of hot chocolate.
She looked up as Rainier rushed in.
"Daddy?"
Rainier crossed the room and lifted her off the stool.
"Are you okay?"
Melusine blinked.
"Yes."
"Did anyone come in here?"
"Grandma."
"Anyone else?"
Melusine thought for a moment.
"Mr. Lewis brought marshmallows."
Rainier looked toward the butler.
Lewis raised both hands slightly.
"I came from the pantry, sir."
Detective Brooks entered behind Rainier.
"Nobody leaves the house."
Rainier's mother stood.
"What happened?"
Rainier showed her the photograph.
She covered her mouth.
Melusine looked at the phone.
"That's me."
Rainier pulled her closer.
"Yes."
"Who took it?"
"We don't know."
Melusine's eyes moved toward the dark hallway.
"Maybe the camera lady."
Rainier frowned.
"What camera lady?"
Rainier asked every staff member in the kitchen the same three questions.
Where were you when the lights failed?
Who did you see in the service corridor?
Did anyone ask you to leave your normal station tonight?
The answers sounded ordinary until they were placed beside one another.
Lewis had been told by an event technician that the pantry refrigerator needed inspection.
The pastry assistant had been sent upstairs for replacement linens that nobody had requested.
The housekeeper assigned to the north corridor had received a text saying Melusine had spilled juice in the nursery.
Each instruction had moved one person away from a useful location for less than five minutes.
Rainier looked at Detective Brooks.
"Someone rehearsed this house."
She nodded.
"Or had access to schedules."
Rainier thought about the wedding planning documents Celeste kept in the guest office.
They included staffing lists, meal times, vendor arrivals, security windows, and floor plans.
He had praised her for being organized.
Evelyn stood near the kitchen doorway listening.
"How much access did wedding vendors have?"
Rainier looked at the event coordinator.
The coordinator swallowed.
"More than usual because Ms. Arden requested a full rehearsal yesterday."
"Including service corridors?"
"Yes."
"Including the north stairs?"
"Yes."
Rainier closed his eyes.
Every unusual access request had been disguised as preparation for a perfect wedding.
The more perfect Celeste wanted the event to appear, the more normal it became for unfamiliar people to move through private parts of the estate.
Detective Brooks asked the coordinator for all vendor contracts and temporary staff records.
Then she turned to Rainier.
"Do not fire anyone tonight."
He frowned.
"Why would I?"
"Because frightened employers sometimes destroy their own witness pool by sending everyone home angry."
Rainier nodded.
"Nobody leaves without being interviewed."
Evelyn watched him.
"You are treating this like a company problem."
Rainier looked at her.
"It's the only kind of crisis I know how to organize."
"Families are not companies."
"I'm learning."
She glanced toward Melusine.
"Start with her."
Rainier followed her gaze.
Melusine was carefully placing marshmallows in a line on the counter.
He walked over and crouched beside her.
"Can I ask you something?"
She nodded.
"Did anybody tell you to stay in the kitchen when the lights went out?"
Melusine thought.
"The phone lady said not to go upstairs."
Rainier's body went still.
"What phone lady?"
"The voice on Grandma's kitchen phone."
Margaret stared at the wall phone.
"It rang just before the power cut."
"What did the caller say?"
She tried to remember.
"That there was an electrical problem upstairs and everyone should stay on the first floor."
Detective Brooks walked to the phone.
"Did you recognize the voice?"
Margaret shook her head.
Rainier looked toward the black camera in the hall.
The blackout had not been random chaos.
Someone had been trying to control where every person stood when the house went dark.
"The lady who fixed the little black camera yesterday."
Detective Brooks crouched beside her.
"Can you tell me what she looked like?"
Melusine nodded.
"Yellow hair."
Rainier and Evelyn exchanged a look.
Celeste was blonde.
But so were three members of the household staff.
Brooks asked, "Did you know her name?"
Melusine shook her head.
"She said she worked for Uncle Conrad."
Rainier closed his eyes briefly.
"Of course she did."
The detective stood.
"We need the security system isolated from the outside network."
Rainier turned to his head of security.
"Do it."
The man hesitated.
"Sir, Beaumont Strategic controls the remote access layer."
"Then unplug it."
"That will disable exterior cameras too."
"Do it."
The head of security left immediately.
Evelyn entered the kitchen slowly.
Melusine slid out of Rainier's arms and ran to her.
This time Evelyn was ready.
She braced herself against the counter and held her daughter.
Rainier watched them for a moment.
Then he noticed something on the back of Evelyn's cardigan.
A small white thread.
No.
Not thread.
A narrow adhesive strip.
He stepped closer.
"Don't move."
Evelyn froze.
Rainier lifted the strip carefully.
Attached to it was a device smaller than his thumbnail.
Detective Brooks took one look.
"Tracker."
Evelyn's face drained of color.
"How long has that been there?"
Rainier's mother whispered.
Brooks placed it in an evidence pouch.
"We don't know."
Evelyn looked down at the cardigan.
"I wore this to the county office yesterday."
"Where else?"
"The police station."
"Before that?"
"A motel near the interstate."
Rainier frowned.
"You stayed in a motel?"
Evelyn glanced at him.
"I didn't know if your house was safe."
The sentence hurt, but Rainier could not argue with it.
Detective Brooks asked, "Did anyone touch your coat tonight?"
Evelyn considered.
"At the ballroom entrance, a staff member offered to take it."
"Did you let them?"
"For maybe thirty seconds."
Rainier looked at the head event coordinator, who had followed them into the kitchen.
"Who was assigned to coat check?"
The coordinator swallowed.
"A temporary team from Arden Events."
Rainier's expression sharpened.
"Arden."
The coordinator looked uncomfortable.
"Celeste arranged them herself."
Detective Brooks wrote quickly.
"Get me the employee list."
Rainier's phone vibrated.
He looked down.
Owen Mercer was calling.
Rainier stared at the name.
Evelyn noticed.
"Answer it."
Rainier hesitated.
Detective Brooks nodded.
"Speaker."
Rainier accepted the call.
"Owen."
The attorney's voice came through, smooth and concerned.
"Rainier, I just heard something happened at the wedding."
Rainier looked at Evelyn.
"You heard?"
"People are already talking."
"Interesting."
Owen paused.
"Why?"
Rainier's voice remained even.
"Because the guests were asked not to speak publicly."
Another pause.
"You know how these things spread."
"Do I?"
"Rainier, what is going on?"
Rainier looked at Detective Brooks.
She gave a small nod.
"Evelyn is alive."
Silence.
Not surprise.
Silence.
Rainier's eyes narrowed.
"Owen?"
"I heard."
"You heard that too?"
"Yes."
"From whom?"
"Conrad called me."
Rainier looked toward the detective.
"When?"
"About half an hour ago."
"Do you know where he is?"
"No."
Rainier stared at the rain-dark windows.
"Owen, why did you notarize a rehabilitation authorization for my wife after I was told she was dead?"
The line went quiet again.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Evelyn has the document."
Owen exhaled slowly.
"Then it is probably a forgery."
"Celeste says you gave her Evelyn's wedding ring."
"That is not true."
Rainier looked at Evelyn.
"Which part?"
"I never gave Celeste any ring."
"Were you in my north storage room after Evelyn's memorial?"
Owen's tone changed.
"Rainier, stop asking questions over the phone."
Detective Brooks's attention sharpened.
Rainier said, "Why?"
"Because you do not know who is listening."
Rainier glanced at the tracker in the evidence pouch.
"Maybe I do."
Owen lowered his voice.
"Is Conrad there?"
"No."
"Good."
Rainier frowned.
"Why is that good?"
Owen spoke quickly.
"Go to your father's archive."
Rainier looked toward the ceiling.
"We already did."
"Did you open N-17?"
Everyone in the kitchen went still.
Rainier's voice became cold.
"How do you know about N-17?"
Owen ignored the question.
"Was it empty?"
"Yes."
A quiet curse came through the phone.
Rainier's grip tightened.
"Owen."
"Listen to me."
"No."
Rainier's voice sharpened.
"You listen to me."
He looked at Evelyn.
"My wife was alive while you signed papers describing her as medically dependent under someone else's name."
"I did not know those papers were being used that way."
"Your seal is on them."
"My seal was copied."
"Celeste says you gave her the ring."
"Celeste is lying."
"Then come here and say that to Detective Brooks."
Owen did not answer.
Rainier's suspicion deepened.
"Where are you?"
"Not somewhere I can leave yet."
"What does that mean?"
"It means Conrad knows I kept a copy."
Evelyn leaned closer.
"A copy of what?"
Owen heard her voice.
Another silence followed.
Then he said her name.
"Evelyn."
She gripped her cane.
"You knew."
Owen's voice lost its professional smoothness.
"Not at first."
"When did you know?"
"Six months after the accident."
Rainier looked as if the floor had disappeared beneath him.
"Six months?"
"Rainier—"
"You knew she was alive for two and a half years."
"I was trying to protect all of you."
Rainier laughed once in disbelief.
"From what?"
"Conrad."
Evelyn's eyes narrowed.
"What copy did you keep?"
Owen inhaled.
"The original trust amendment."
Rainier looked at Detective Brooks.
"Where is it?"
"Not in your house."
"Where?"
"A bank box in my name."
Rainier's voice became dangerously quiet.
"Then bring it."
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because the box requires two access credentials."
Evelyn looked toward the ring evidence photograph.
"N-17."
Owen heard her.
"You found the code."
"What is the second credential?"
Owen did not answer.
Rainier repeated the question.
"What is the second credential?"
A sound came through the phone.
A door opening.
Owen's breathing changed.
"I have to go."
Detective Brooks stepped closer to the phone.
"Mr. Mercer, tell me where you are."
"No."
"If you are in danger—"
"I am not the one in danger."
Rainier's face tightened.
"Who is?"
Owen whispered one sentence.
"Your daughter becomes the controlling beneficiary at midnight."
The call ended.
Rainier stared at the dead screen.
Evelyn whispered, "Melusine."
Detective Brooks immediately turned toward her officers.
"Nobody gets near the child."
Rainier looked at the ballroom message again in his mind.
At midnight, someone gains control of something they have spent three years trying to reach.
He had assumed the someone was Conrad.
Owen had just told him something else.
The person who gained control at midnight was Melusine.
May you like
Rainier's seven-year-old daughter.
Then the house lights went out.
