Chapter 4 - The Brass Key
Sloane denied locking Oliver in the sunroom, blaming a swollen door and Rosa’s misunderstanding. She said grief made children misread ordinary moments.
Daniel did not argue in front of Oliver. He told Sloane the conversation was over, then asked Rosa to take his son upstairs and stay with him. When they were gone, he placed the almost-correct signature on the desk.
“Did you write this?”
“No.”
“Did you put my name on it?”
“I said the forms were preliminary.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
Her eyes hardened. “You’re exhausted. You come home, see a crying child, and decide the woman who has held your life together for a year is the villain. Is that fair?”
Daniel wanted to believe her, but convenience was no excuse for ignoring his child’s fear.
“Show me the original consent form,” he said.
“I’ll find it tomorrow.”
“Tonight.”
She swept past him. “You’re making a terrible mistake.”
After she left, Daniel went upstairs to Oliver’s room. His son had fallen asleep with one hand wrapped around the key. Rosa sat nearby, reading a book without turning the pages.
“I’m sorry,” Daniel told her.
“Don’t apologize to me,” she said. “Be here for him.”
The brass key bore Julia’s initials. Daniel remembered her walnut writing desk, later moved to storage at Sloane’s suggestion. He had never checked its drawers.
He found the desk behind a stack of boxes in the locked basement storage room. Dust coated its surface. The bottom drawer had a tiny keyhole, and the brass key slid into it with a soft, exact click.
Inside were photos, letters, and a slim notebook. Its first pages held ordinary reminders; then the entries turned uneasy.
Then the tone changed.
“Something is wrong with the foundation accounts,” Julia had written. “Several payments are being routed through a vendor I have never approved. I need to check the second set of books before I speak to Daniel.”
The next page had been torn out.
A note lay beneath the notebook. It was addressed to Daniel, but the ink had faded where a drop of water had struck it.
“If you are reading this, please look carefully at the people who offer to make your grief easier. Not everyone who promises to protect our family is doing it for love.”
Daniel heard a floorboard creak behind him.
May you like
He turned.
Sloane was standing at the top of the basement stairs, looking directly at the open desk.
