Chapter 3 - THE BLUE ROOM
Ethan called it preserving memory.
Celeste called it refusing to move on.
Now the door stood open.
Amelia’s books were boxed.
Her clothes were gone from the closet.
A man’s jacket hung over the chair.
Richard’s.
Ethan stared at it.
“You moved into this room?”
Richard shook his head.
“No.”
Sophie pointed.
“He slept here.”
Celeste snapped, “Sophie.”
Ethan turned.
“One more time you say her name like a warning, and you leave this room in handcuffs if I have to call the state police myself.”
Sophie led him to the closet.
On the inside wall were pencil marks Amelia had made every birthday.
SOPHIE — 3 YEARS.
SOPHIE — 4 YEARS.
The final line stopped halfway because Amelia had become too weak to finish it.
Behind the marks, one panel had fresh scratches.
Ethan pressed it.
A narrow compartment opened.
Empty.
Sophie whispered, “The blue box was there.”
“When did you see Richard take it?”
“Today.”
“What happened?”
“I was looking for Bunny.”
She explained that she saw Celeste and Richard in the room. Richard removed a blue metal case from the wall. Celeste saw Sophie in the doorway.
“She said I was spying.”
“What happened next?”
Sophie’s grip tightened.
“She took my passport from Dad’s office. Then she said we were going on an adventure.”
“And the suitcase?”
“I said no.”
Ethan’s chest tightened.
Sophie continued.
“She told me to sit inside while she packed my toys. Then she locked it.”
Celeste shook her head.
“For five minutes. I was trying to calm her down.”
Ethan stared at her.
“You locked a six-year-old in hard-shell luggage to calm her down?”
Celeste started crying.
“I panicked.”
Richard stepped between them.
“This is going nowhere.”
Ethan held up Amelia’s photograph.
“No. This is going exactly where my wife expected.”
Then his security chief entered.
“Mr. Hale, the police are at the gate.”
He hesitated.
May you like
“And Richard’s car trunk is open.”
Inside it was a blue metal box.
