Chapter 14 - The Dollhouse
Police reached the mansion first.
The north storage room had been ransacked.
Old furniture lay overturned. Boxes had been cut open. A grandfather clock rested on its side.
The dollhouse was gone.
Daniel checked exterior cameras.
A maintenance van had entered using a valid contractor code, then left eight minutes later.
"Can you track it?" Sofia asked.
Daniel zoomed in on the plate.
Detective Chen radioed the number.
The van belonged to an Alvarez renovation company and had just crossed the county line.
Mara stood very still.
"Rafael knows about the black ledger."
Camila, who had insisted on coming despite everyone's objections, touched the empty space where the dollhouse had stood.
Her face tightened with concentration.
"Wait."
She knelt beside the wall.
A small square of dust was cleaner than the rest.
"The dollhouse wasn't hiding the ledger," she said.
Sofia crouched beside her. "What do you mean?"
"It was the map."
Camila closed her eyes.
"I painted one window blue because the real window was blue. The ledger was behind the real window."
Mara looked toward the hallway.
"Which window?"
Camila turned toward the old greenhouse visible across the courtyard.
One small upper pane had been painted blue decades earlier.
They ran.
The greenhouse smelled of damp soil and dead vines. Daniel climbed a ladder and removed the blue wooden frame.
Behind it was a narrow cavity.
Empty.
Sofia's stomach dropped.
Then Mara noticed scratches in the dust below.
"Something was dragged."
They followed the marks to a potting bench.
Underneath, taped to the wood, was a black plastic pouch.
Inside was a ledger.
Black cover.
Camila started shaking.
"That's it."
Sofia opened to the first page.
There were names, dates, payments, shell companies, and handwritten notes.
Halfway down the page was one entry that made Elena sit down hard on a bench.
October 17, 2006.
Payment authorized: Rafael Alvarez.
Purpose: Remove C.M. from property before auditors arrive.
Contractor: Owen Pike.
May you like
Owen had said he thought he was chasing a thief.
The ledger said he had been paid before the chase ever began.
