Chapter 15 - Behind the Cornerstone
At 5:40 A.M., Ethan stopped a demolition crew with fourteen minutes to spare.
The Hale Regent was being renovated from the lobby up. Plastic sheets covered the chandeliers, and jackhammers waited beside the marble wall where Samuel Morgan and Arthur Hale had placed the original cornerstone forty-two years earlier.
Ruth’s brass key fit a tiny slot hidden behind the dedication plaque.
The stone panel released with a dull click.
Inside was a narrow steel compartment.
Empty.
Jenna stared at Ruth. “You said it was here.”
“It was.”
Margaret ran her hand along the steel shelf.
Dust had been disturbed recently.
Noah pulled overnight security footage.
At 2:13 A.M., someone entered the lobby wearing a contractor jacket.
Paul Mercer.
The same former security chief who had impersonated Ethan at the bank.
“He’s always one step ahead,” Ethan said.
“No,” Ruth replied. “He’s following instructions.”
They traced Paul’s contractor badge. It belonged to a company hired by Richard Donovan.
Ortiz sent officers to Richard’s home.
He was gone.
His garage was empty.
His passport remained upstairs.
That meant he had not planned to fly.
Then Jenna noticed the date carved on the inside of the stone compartment.
October 14.
Daniel’s birthday.
Under it were initials: D.H.
“Daniel was here,” Ethan said.
Ruth nodded. “He moved the original ledger after he realized Victor knew about this compartment.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
Ethan shut his eyes.
Then Lily, sitting in a stroller nearby, began tapping a small silver object against the armrest.
Jenna looked down.
It was the hotel key card from the black cake box.
She had accidentally carried it away after the police returned the copied items.
Room 1714.
But the card had something scratched into its magnetic strip.
Three numbers.
314.
Margaret frowned. “Daniel’s old locker number at the Regent.”
They went downstairs to the employee corridor.
Locker 314 had not been used in years.
Ethan cut the rusted padlock.
Inside sat a red leather book.
Ruth began to cry.
“The ledger.”
Ethan reached for it.
His phone rang.
Claire.
He answered.
Her voice was shaking.
“Don’t open it there.”
May you like
“Why?”
“Because Victor knows you found it.” A fire alarm exploded through the building.
