Chapter 13 - The Clock That Stopped
The old performance hall was boarded up behind the foundation's first headquarters.
At 11:45, Renee's team covered the exits while Julian, Elara, and Celeste entered through a side door.
"That's the time your father's car went off the road," Celeste whispered.
Julian looked at her. "How do you know that?"
"Graham told Lydia the meeting ended at eight. He said your father was still alive when the driver called."
Julian climbed a ladder at the back of the stage and opened the clock's wooden casing. Inside sat a black ledger wrapped in waxed cloth, a small tape recorder, and a folded sheet bearing his father's signature.
Elara reached for the ledger. A sharp smell drifted from the curtains.
"Gasoline," she said.
The fire alarm did not sound. There was no time to wait for one.
A flare of orange light climbed the curtain near the rear exit. Smoke curled across the ceiling. Renee shouted through the radio for everyone to evacuate, but the side door slammed shut.
Someone had jammed a metal bar through the handles from the outside.
Julian ran to the door and threw his shoulder against it. It did not move. Celeste coughed and pointed toward a narrow passage beside the stage.
"There was a loading tunnel. It goes to the alley."
They ran through smoke toward the trapdoor. Elara kept the ledger under her coat. Julian helped Celeste down the ladder, then turned back at a crash from the stage.
The old clock had fallen, smashing across the floor. Behind it, a metal box had opened. Inside was a small reel-to-reel tape and a second envelope.
"Julian, leave it!" Elara shouted.
He grabbed the envelope and followed her into the tunnel. Heat pressed against their backs. They reached the alley just as firefighters forced the main entrance open.
Renee pulled them clear and counted heads twice.
Celeste shook as Renee sealed the scorched ledger and envelope in evidence bags.
A firefighter ran over. "We found a man near the rear gate. He had a gas can and a set of keys. He says he was paid to start a small fire, not burn the whole place."
"Who paid him?" Renee asked.
The firefighter shook his head. "He says he never saw the person's face. But he had this in his pocket."
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He handed her a silver cuff link engraved with the Vale family crest.
His mother wore a matching pair as a brooch.
