Chapter 4 - Someone Was Burning the Past
Sofia ran.
The archive room was two floors below, beside the old library. By the time she reached it, gray smoke was curling under the door.
A security guard grabbed an extinguisher.
"Everyone back!"
Mara came down behind Sofia, still holding Camila's letter.
Rafael followed more slowly.
The guard forced the archive door open. A wastebasket burned beside a filing cabinet, but they put it out within minutes.
Sofia stepped inside, coughing.
One cabinet drawer stood open.
"What was kept here?" Mara asked.
Sofia stared at the label.
SECURITY - 2004-2008.
The files were gone.
Rafael appeared behind them. "Old wiring. This house is full of it."
"Old wiring doesn't open a filing cabinet first," Sofia said.
He ignored her.
The young security technician, Daniel Cho, crouched near the wall. "There was no electrical short."
Everyone looked at him.
Daniel held up a melted strip of plastic. "Somebody used an accelerant. Not much. Enough to make sure this corner caught."
Rafael's face hardened. "You're a contractor, Daniel. Don't play detective."
Daniel stood. "I'm also the person who replaced every camera in this house six months ago."
Mara glanced at Sofia.
"Cameras," she said.
Sofia remembered Camila's letter.
Trust no one who tells you the cameras were broken that night.
"Were there cameras here in 2006?" Sofia asked.
Rafael answered immediately. "No."
Daniel frowned.
"That's strange."
"What?"
"The old control panel in the basement still has labels from the original system." He looked toward Rafael. "North hall. Library. West gate. Archive."
Sofia's pulse jumped.
"Can old footage survive twenty years?"
"Not on the original drives," Daniel said. "Unless somebody copied it."
Mara looked at the burned cabinet.
Then she noticed something black beneath the desk.
She bent down and pulled out a small metal key tag.
Stamped into it were two words.
SAFE 3.
Daniel went still.
"There is no Safe 3 on the mansion inventory."
May you like
Rafael said nothing.
That silence told Sofia exactly where they needed to look next.
