Chapter 5 - The Room Beneath the Stairs

Ryan called Mara. "What notebooks?"

"Paul Mercer documented the construction account, his loans to your business, and an agreement he made before he died."

"Mom never told me about an agreement."

"She tried. You left the meeting."

That was true. Three months earlier, Evelyn had invited him to discuss estate planning. He had arrived twenty minutes late, complained that lawyers always wanted fees, and walked out when she mentioned updating the trust.

"Where are the notebooks?" he asked.

"That's what we're trying to learn."

Ryan drove back to the house with Natalie. The others checked into a budget hotel, each paying for a room the promised holiday had made unnecessary. Brooke posted nothing, but her silence was colder than her videos.

At the front porch Natalie tried the keypad once more. LOCKED.

"There is a spare key under the grill," she said.

"Mom moved it."

"She didn't tell us."

"She doesn't have to."

A neighbor crossed the snowy sidewalk with a shovel. Mrs. Alvarez had lived next door since Ryan was ten. She looked at Natalie before speaking.

"A man took boxes out of the house on Tuesday," she said. "I thought your mother knew."

"What man?"

"White van. Brown cap. Tall, with a scar near his chin. He took two cartons from the basement entrance."

Natalie gripped the porch railing. "That was maintenance."

"I didn't say he was maintenance," Mrs. Alvarez replied.

Ryan turned. "Was it Derek?"

Natalie didn't answer quickly enough.

He called Derek. The number went straight to voicemail. Ryan left a message demanding the boxes be returned. His phone rang back from an unfamiliar number.

"Mr. Mercer?" a woman asked. "This is Deputy Torres. We received a report of possible document theft at your mother's residence. I understand you may know the person who entered."

Ryan looked at Natalie, who was staring at the driveway like an escape route might appear.

"I might," he said.

Then Mrs. Alvarez added one last detail.

"There was a little girl with him. She was crying. I thought she was your daughter."

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Ryan and Natalie had no children.

"What little girl?" he demanded.