Chapter 3 - THE ROOM UNDER THE HOUSE
There were thirty-two photographs.
School pictures.
Birthday photos.
Surveillance images.
Children entering courthouses.
Children leaving foster homes.
Emily recognized two faces immediately.
Charlotte Bennett.
Noah Bennett.
A corkboard connected names with colored thread.
TRUST VALUE.
GUARDIAN.
PLACEMENT.
NEXT HEARING.
At the bottom of one column:
ETHAN GRANT - $3.8M.
LUCY GRANT - $3.8M.
Sarah stared at the numbers.
"What money?"
She had no idea.
A steel cabinet held copies of Daniel's life insurance policies.
A family trust from his late mother.
Education accounts.
Together, Ethan and Lucy would inherit nearly eight million dollars when they turned twenty-five.
Until then, Sarah controlled the funds as surviving parent.
Unless she was declared unfit.
Emily found a draft petition.
EMERGENCY GUARDIANSHIP OF ETHAN AND LUCY GRANT.
Petitioner:
Ryan Miller.
Allegations:
Maternal psychiatric instability.
Substance abuse.
Child neglect.
Sarah looked sick.
"I don't use drugs."
An officer opened another drawer.
Prescription bottles.
All labeled with Sarah's name.
None prescribed by her doctor.
Emily's jaw tightened.
Someone had been building a case.
Then Ethan noticed something behind the photographs.
A small black box.
He pointed.
"Dad had one like that."
It was an encrypted storage drive.
Police bagged it.
On the desk sat a notebook.
Ryan's handwriting.
DANIEL GOT TOO CLOSE.
SARAH STILL DOESN'T KNOW THE BENNETT CONNECTION.
Emily looked at Sarah.
"What connection?"
Sarah shook her head.
"I don't know."
Then Lucy walked to one photograph.
A girl with dark hair.
Charlotte Bennett.
Lucy touched the corner.
"She was here."
Everyone turned.
Emily crouched.
"When?"
Lucy pointed toward the hidden room.
"At night."
Sarah stopped breathing.
"Lucy, what are you saying?"
Lucy whispered, "The man told me she was a ghost."
Emily looked at the dates.
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Charlotte Bennett had supposedly disappeared four years ago.
The photograph Lucy touched was printed six weeks earlier.
