Chapter 17 - THE HOUSE WITH TOO MANY KEYS
The estate had thirty-seven bedrooms, six staircases, and more locked doors than any family needed. When Arthur was alive, we'd called it a home. Now it felt like a beautiful machine designed to hide people.
Investigators searched the nursery and the rooms nearby. A tiny wireless camera was found in the base of a decorative lamp. Its battery had recently been replaced. The recordings were routed through equipment managed by the foundation's security contractor.
Mercer's contractor.
"He wasn't just stealing money," I told Quinn. "He was watching our private lives."
The search uncovered records showing that Vanessa had arranged an overseas placement for Maya weeks before the gala. The paperwork described the little girl as emotionally disturbed. It was filled with statements copied from assessments she'd never had.
Rosa read one page and began to shake. "This says Maya attacks people. She barely knows how to tie her shoes."
I took the page away. "You don't have to read another word."
Then came news from the hospital: Julian was improving enough to leave intensive monitoring. When he heard about the hidden camera, he asked to speak with me privately.
"There's a service passage behind my old bedroom," he said. "Dad showed it to me when I was ten. Mercer used it for the estate renovations."
"Does Vanessa know?"
"I showed her once. I thought it was romantic. A secret hallway in an old house."
He gave a bitter little laugh.
Police checked the passage. Behind a false panel they found hard-copy records, a laptop, and clothing matching what Vanessa had worn when she disappeared. The laptop had recently been used to access flight schedules.
Quinn called me with the update. "We think she's planning to leave the country."
"With what money?"
"Money isn't her problem. There's a much more immediate threat."
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"What?"
"A message intercepted from Mercer's phone. He told her, 'If you can't take the girl, take the grandmother.'"
