Chapter 3 - The Locked Drawer
Nathan sent the household staff home and called a private doctor for Grace. He did not call the police yet.
Victoria noticed.
"You're believing her?"
"I'm listening to her."
"That is not the same thing."
"Tonight it is."
The doctor confirmed deep bruising but no fracture. Nathan watched from the doorway as Lily held an ice pack against Grace's shoulder with both hands.
"Gentle," Grace whispered.
"I am gentle."
"Very gentle."
Lily smiled faintly.
Nathan had to look away.
Ethan would have adored her.
An hour later, Grace stood inside Nathan's study. The room had belonged to Ethan before Nathan renovated the estate. Most of the original furniture was gone, but one built-in cabinet remained.
Grace knelt beside it.
"Ethan told me there was a drawer nobody used because it jammed in winter."
Nathan crouched beside her. "He told me that too. I thought it was just broken."
Grace slid the brass key into a tiny slot beneath the drawer handle.
A hidden panel clicked open.
Inside was an empty cavity.
Grace stared.
"No."
Nathan reached inside. Nothing.
Victoria appeared in the doorway. "Satisfied?"
Grace turned on her. "You took it."
"I didn't even know the drawer existed."
Nathan examined the dust inside. A clean rectangular outline marked the wood.
Something had been there recently.
"Someone removed a box," he said.
Victoria's face stayed calm. "Or Grace did, before staging this ridiculous performance."
Grace stood too fast and winced. "I never had access to this room until tonight."
Nathan moved to his desk and opened the security system on his computer.
The estate had cameras in every hall.
He pulled up the study corridor.
Three nights earlier, at 2:13 a.m., a figure in a dark coat entered the room.
The camera glitched.
When the image returned four minutes later, the figure was leaving with a small metal box.
Nathan froze the frame.
The person's face was hidden.
But one hand was visible.
On the wrist was a bracelet of white diamonds shaped like leaves.
Nathan had given that bracelet to Victoria for their engagement party.
He turned slowly.
Victoria looked at her bare wrist.
Then she smiled.
May you like
"You really should have changed the cameras sooner, Nathan."
And before he could move, every light in the house went black.
