Chapter 5: A Mother-in-Law's Deadly Plan
Chapter 5: A Mother-in-Law's Deadly Plan
The sun had barely risen when Ethan's phone rang.
He glanced at the screen.
Detective Brian Keller.
"Ethan, we have a problem."
Ethan immediately sat upright.
"What happened?"
"I had officers watching Blackwood Manor overnight."
"And?"
"Margaret left before dawn."
"Where is she going?"
"We lost her."
Ethan's jaw tightened.
"She wouldn't disappear without a reason."
"I agree."
Before Keller could continue, Emily walked into the kitchen, already dressed.
She looked exhausted but determined.
"What is it?"
Ethan covered the phone for a moment.
"Margaret vanished this morning."
Emily's expression changed instantly.
"She's looking for something."
An hour later, Emily spread Charles Blackwood's journal across the dining table.
The coded message stared back at her.
REST AT LAKE ASH.
Rachel poured everyone fresh coffee.
"You really think Charles hid something at his cemetery?"
Emily nodded.
"He knew someone would search his office."
"But they wouldn't think to search his grave."
Ethan leaned over the journal.
"I don't think the message means the grave itself."
"What do you mean?"
"Charles was too careful."
"If he expected to be murdered, he wouldn't risk hiding evidence somewhere obvious."
Emily looked at the map Ethan had printed of Lake Ash Cemetery.
More than five hundred graves covered the hillside.
There was also an old stone chapel...
A caretaker's cottage...
And a family mausoleum belonging to the Blackwoods.
Her eyes stopped there.
"The mausoleum."
Ethan looked up.
"Why that?"
"My father-in-law always said he hated being buried underground."
Rachel frowned.
"So why is there a mausoleum?"
Emily slowly smiled.
"Because he wasn't planning for himself."
Across town, a black SUV rolled through the iron gates of Lake Ash Cemetery.
Margaret stepped out wearing dark sunglasses despite the cloudy morning.
Two large men followed closely behind.
One carried a metal case filled with lock-picking tools.
The cemetery caretaker approached nervously.
"I'm sorry, ma'am. Visiting hours don't begin until—"
Margaret handed him a thick envelope.
"I won't be long."
The caretaker looked inside.
His eyes widened.
Without another word, he unlocked the gate leading toward the Blackwood family mausoleum.
Inside the mausoleum, Margaret walked directly to Charles's marble crypt.
She touched the engraved name with cold fingertips.
"You always believed you were smarter than me."
One of the men opened the metal case.
"What exactly are we looking for?"
Margaret stared at the stone walls.
"A key."
Meanwhile, Detective Keller arrived at the forensic laboratory.
A technician greeted him with a sealed evidence folder.
"We finished examining Mrs. Blackwood's gown."
"And?"
"There are fingerprints on both shoulders."
Keller smiled.
"Emily's?"
"No."
His smile disappeared.
"The prints belong to someone else."
"What?"
The technician handed him the report.
"Mrs. Blackwood wasn't alone on that balcony."
Keller stared at the document.
Another person had been involved.
Someone had grabbed Margaret during the struggle.
Or...
Someone had helped push Emily.
At the guesthouse, Ethan received Keller's report by email.
Emily read it twice.
"There were two people."
Ethan nodded slowly.
"Margaret had an accomplice."
"But who?"
Rachel looked thoughtful.
"What if it wasn't planned?"
Emily shook her head.
"The cameras were disabled."
"They knew exactly what they were doing."
Her phone suddenly vibrated.
The caller ID displayed a name she never expected to see.
Daniel.
She hesitated before answering.
"Hello?"
His voice sounded tired.
"Emily... please."
"I just want to talk."
She remained silent.
"I know you don't trust me."
"You sided with your mother."
"I know."
There was a long pause.
"I made a mistake."
Emily closed her eyes.
"What do you want?"
"I found something."
Her heart skipped.
"What?"
"My father's safe."
"It was hidden behind a painting in his office."
Emily stood.
"What's inside?"
"It was empty."
Her hope faded.
"But..."
Daniel continued.
"I found a photograph taped underneath the shelf."
"What kind of photograph?"
"There are four people in it."
"My father."
"My mother."
"Richard Hawthorne."
"And..."
Daniel hesitated.
"I don't recognize the fourth man."
Emily exchanged a glance with Ethan.
"Can you send it to me?"
"I already have."
Seconds later, her phone chimed.
She opened the image.
The photograph looked at least twenty-five years old.
Four young executives stood in front of a construction site.
On the back, Charles had written one sentence.
The founders. Never trust Number Four.
Ethan zoomed in on the unidentified man.
His face seemed strangely familiar.
Then he remembered.
"I've seen him before."
"Where?"
"In an FBI file."
Emily looked at him.
"You know who he is?"
Ethan slowly nodded.
"If I'm right..."
"...he disappeared nearly twenty years ago."
At Lake Ash Cemetery, one of Margaret's men called out.
"I found something."
Hidden behind a loose stone inside the mausoleum was a small bronze key.
Margaret smiled for the first time all morning.
"Charles..."
"You predictable fool."
She reached for it.
The moment she lifted the key, a loud metallic click echoed through the chamber.
"What was that?"
No one answered.
Then another sound followed.
The grinding of heavy stone.
The marble floor beneath Charles's crypt slowly shifted sideways.
A narrow staircase emerged from beneath the tomb.
One of the men whispered,
"My God..."
Margaret stared into the darkness below.
"So..."
"The vault wasn't under the tower after all."
She stepped toward the staircase.
Suddenly—
"Police!"
Detective Keller's voice thundered through the mausoleum entrance.
"Nobody move!"
Margaret spun around.
Her smile vanished.
At the same instant, one of the armed men shoved her aside, grabbed the bronze key, and sprinted down the hidden staircase.
Gun drawn, Keller shouted, "Stop!"
But the man disappeared into the darkness before anyone could reach him.
Margaret watched him vanish, her face filled not with anger...
But fear.
May you like
Because the man who had just stolen the key...
Wasn't one of hers.
