Chapter 5 - The Empty Envelope.
Elena forgot the pain in her shoulder.
The letter had been inside the safe at midnight.
She knew because she had photographed it before Ruiz's technician installed the hidden cameras.
Now Nathan stood above her holding nothing but the envelope.
Detective Ruiz looked toward him.
"Don't touch anything else in that room."
Nathan came down the stairs slowly.
"Someone took it."
Elena pushed herself higher against the stretcher despite the paramedic's warning.
"What else is missing?"
"The red folder."
Her stomach tightened.
The red folder contained bank records connecting Vanessa to Caleb Mercer.
Ruiz already had digital copies.
But whoever entered the safe might believe the originals were the only evidence.
That meant the thief was still operating on incomplete information.
Which could be useful.
A police officer returned from the service hallway.
"We lost him beyond the greenhouse."
Ruiz's jaw tightened.
"Lock the property down."
Vanessa folded her arms.
"You can't detain everyone because some burglar broke in."
Ruiz turned toward her.
"Interesting choice of word."
Vanessa frowned.
"What?"
"Burglar."
"Nobody said anything was stolen until Nathan came downstairs."
The foyer became quiet again.
Vanessa's face barely moved.
But Elena saw the pulse jump in her neck.
"It was obvious," Vanessa said.
Ruiz nodded as though accepting the answer.
"Maybe."
Dr. Pierce came down behind Nathan.
He looked unsettled.
"The safe wasn't forced."
Nathan turned.
"What?"
"Whoever opened it used the code."
Nathan's eyes moved to Elena.
"Only we know the code."
Elena shook her head.
"Not anymore."
Margaret gripped the back of a chair.
"Who else could know it?"
Elena looked toward Vanessa.
Vanessa laughed once, sharply.
"Don't even try that."
"I have never been inside your bedroom alone."
Helen spoke from behind Margaret.
"That's not true."
Vanessa turned.
The housekeeper's hands were shaking.
"You asked me to bring Mrs. Howard's blue coat downstairs last Thursday."
"You went into the bedroom before I could get it."
Vanessa stared at her.
"For thirty seconds."
"Long enough to photograph a keypad," Ruiz said.
Vanessa's eyes flashed.
"Are you accusing me because a servant remembers me touching a coat?"
Margaret's expression became icy.
"Her name is Helen."
The rebuke cut through the room.
Vanessa looked away.
The paramedic again urged Elena toward the ambulance.
This time Elena agreed.
She needed the baby checked.
She also needed distance from the mansion before the next move.
Ruiz walked beside the stretcher as it rolled toward the doors.
"We recovered something near the greenhouse," he said quietly.
Elena looked at him.
"The letter?"
"No."
He opened his palm.
A small silver cuff link rested there.
It bore the Howard Industries crest.
Nathan saw it too.
His face changed.
"That's impossible."
Ruiz looked at him.
"Why?"
Nathan swallowed.
"Because those cuff links were made for only three men."
"My father."
"Me."
He paused.
"And my brother Daniel."
Elena stared at him.
Daniel Howard had supposedly been dead for seven years.
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THE REVERSED PLAN
