Chapter 8 - THE EMPTY ROOM
Deputies cleared the Mercer house before Daniel was allowed inside.
Nothing looked stolen.
That made it worse.
"What was she looking for?" Grant asked.
Daniel scanned the room.
Then he saw the loose baseboard near the bookshelf.
"Ethan has a hiding place."
He knelt and pulled the trim free.
The narrow space behind it was empty.
Grant crouched beside him. "What notes?"
"Lily wrote him birthday letters before she died. One for every year through eighteen."
Grant's eyes sharpened. "Where are they?"
"In a bank box. Except one. Ethan kept the next one here because he liked knowing it was close."
"Which birthday?"
"Nine."
Daniel's phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A photograph loaded.
It showed the missing envelope on a wooden table.
LILY'S handwriting across the front: FOR ETHAN - AGE NINE.
Under the image was a message.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO YOUR WIFE.
Another message arrived.
STOP DIGGING.
Grant took the phone.
"Don't respond."
"She stole my dead wife's letter to threaten me."
A crime-scene technician called from the hallway.
"Deputy? We found something in the laundry room."
Inside sat a memory card no bigger than a fingernail.
"Hidden camera," the technician said. "Someone removed the camera but missed the storage card."
Harris bagged it.
Two hours later, a forensic analyst recovered several clips.
Then one clip appeared dated three nights before the storm.
Claire was speaking to someone off camera.
"Once Daniel believes the boy is unstable, he'll sign anything."
Owen's voice answered.
"And if he doesn't?"
Claire smiled at something beyond the frame.
May you like
"Then we remind him how easy accidents are."
* * *
