Chapter 14 - Beneath the Black Wood
Gideon still owned Briar House. A court order preserved records there, and Ortiz arranged for a supervised search. Celeste complained loudly when police and a forensic technician entered the ballroom the next afternoon.
“You've turned our home into a crime scene,” she told Gideon.
“No,” he answered. “I'm finally looking at what happened in it.”
The technician inspected the grand piano while Mateo reviewed old photographs showing its position ten years earlier. Ivy waited safely elsewhere with Nora's sister, a pediatric nurse from Syracuse.
Gideon remembered how Lydia used to crawl beneath the instrument to hide notes from him. There was a small brass plate behind one leg, installed after a repair. The technician removed it carefully.
A narrow wrapped packet slipped onto a protective sheet.
Inside were a flash drive and a handwritten note: DAD, PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU JUDGE ME AGAIN.
Gideon couldn't open the letter. He gave it to Amina.
On the drive, investigators found account spreadsheets, correspondence, and a video Lydia had recorded weeks before her death. She spoke directly to the camera, her baby asleep in a carrier beside her.
“I don't want to destroy the foundation,” Lydia said. “I want it to do what it promised. Kids are being denied lessons while people who can afford diamonds steal from them.”
Gideon reached for the screen. The child in the carrier moved, and Lydia bent to kiss her forehead.
“My little Ivy,” she whispered.
An alarm sounded from the west corridor. Smoke seeped beneath a ballroom door.
Mateo rushed toward it. “Everybody out. Now.”
The technician unplugged the evidence equipment and lifted the drive into its case. Gideon stayed fixed before the frozen image of his daughter.
“Sir!” Mateo shouted.
May you like
Amina seized Gideon's arm. He took two steps, pressed a hand to his chest, and collapsed against the piano bench.
From the hall came the crack of a door slamming shut.
