Chapter 8 - Someone in the House
Darkness swallowed the red room.
Elena heard Arthur say, “Stay behind me.”
She almost snapped that she did not need protecting, but then another floorboard creaked in the hallway.
Closer.
Arthur turned on his phone flashlight.
A shadow moved past the doorway.
“Police!” Arthur shouted, though there were no officers in the house anymore.
The shadow ran.
Elena grabbed the nearest object—a heavy brass candleholder—and followed Arthur into the basement corridor.
They reached the stairs just as the back door slammed.
Arthur raced outside.
A dark sedan tore down the service drive.
He caught only three numbers on the plate.
Elena stopped beside him, breathing hard. “Whoever that was knew exactly where the basement room was.”
Arthur called Kim.
Within an hour, officers returned. They found a side window forced open and muddy shoe prints near the study. Nothing appeared stolen.
Then Elena noticed the family safe was open.
Arthur checked it.
Passports, cash, and jewelry were untouched.
One folder was missing.
“What was in it?” Kim asked.
Arthur’s face tightened. “The original trust documents.”
Kim swore quietly.
Arthur paced. “Graham has digital copies. Why risk coming here for the originals?”
“Maybe because the originals contain something the copies don’t.”
Arthur called the family attorney, Harold Brenner, and demanded a meeting.
Brenner arrived near midnight. He was seventy, careful with every word, and visibly frightened when Arthur explained what had disappeared.
“There was an amendment,” Brenner admitted.
“What amendment?”
“Your father added it privately before he died.”
Arthur leaned forward. “Say it.”
“If there is credible evidence that the named successor—Leo—has been intentionally harmed by a beneficiary, that beneficiary is permanently barred from controlling the trust.”
Elena understood first. “So if Victoria hurt Leo, she loses everything.”
Brenner nodded.
Arthur said, “And if Graham knew that?”
“He would need the amendment destroyed before anyone could enforce it.”
Kim asked, “Who besides you knew?”
Brenner looked at the floor.
“My former associate.”
“Name?”
Brenner swallowed.
“Graham Pike.”
Arthur’s phone buzzed.
A video message appeared from Victoria’s number.
He pressed play.
Victoria was tied to a chair.
May you like
Behind her, Graham smiled at the camera.
“Arthur,” he said, “we need to talk.”
