Chapter 7 - THE NECKLACE WITH TWO NAMESRory grabbed his coat.
“We're finding Evelyn.”
Frank shook his head.
“Not yet.”
Rory turned.
“My daughters are with her.”
“No.”
“You just said she controls the foundation.”
“I said she controls the people inside it.”
Frank looked toward the repaired teddy bear.
“Evelyn isn't the one holding the girls.”
Rory froze.
“Then who is?”
“Agnes.”
“Why would Agnes take them?”
“Because she believes Evelyn is going to kill them.”
The answer made no sense.
Marianne stepped forward.
“Then where is Evelyn?”
Frank looked at her.
“She came to the mansion tonight.”
Rory's eyes narrowed.
“Where?”
Frank pointed upward.
“The attic.”
We climbed the stairs.
The attic smelled of dust and cedar.
Old furniture sat beneath white sheets.
A child's rocking horse stood near the window.
Rory stopped beside it.
There was something tied to its handle.
Elena's silver necklace.
The pendant contained two tiny photographs.
One of Lily.
One of Rose.
Rory touched it.
“She knew.”
Marianne nodded.
“She always knew.”
Behind the rocking horse was a suitcase.
Inside were letters.
Not from Evelyn.
From Elena.
Rory opened the first.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
Rory, if you ever find this, don't blame yourself.
He read silently.
His breathing became uneven.
The next sentence was underlined.
The girls were never the target. You were.
He turned the page.
Someone wants you to destroy the foundation so they can buy it back through a third party.
Another page.
David discovered the plan. He tried to stop it.
Rory looked up.
“David wasn't the villain.”
Frank shook his head.
“He wasn't.”
Marianne whispered, “He died trying to protect Elena.”
Rory continued reading.
The next page was missing.
Only a torn edge remained.
He found another letter.
Agnes knows more than she says.
Then another.
Celeste is innocent.
Rory looked at his sister.
She began crying.
“I told you.”
He crossed the room and hugged her.
She broke down against him.
“I thought you'd hate me.”
“I never hated you.”
“I should have told you.”
“Yes.”
She pulled away.
“I was scared.”
“I know.”
It was the first time they had touched in years without anger between them.
Then something moved beneath the floor.
Rory looked down.
A loose board.
He lifted it.
Inside was a small cassette recorder.
He pressed play.
Agnes's voice filled the attic.
“I didn't hurt the girls.”
Rory stared.
“I frightened them because someone else was listening.”
The recording continued.
“Every night at three, the device activated. I had to make them scream so the person watching would believe it was working.”
Rory's face hardened.
“What?”
Agnes continued.
“If I stopped, they would know I had discovered the truth.”
Marianne whispered, “She was protecting them.”
The recording continued.
“I needed Rory to find the bear.”
A pause.
“And I needed him to blame Celeste.”
The recording ended.
Rory looked at me.
“Why would she want me to blame Celeste?”
Frank answered.
“Because Evelyn was watching.”
Rory stared.
Then the attic window shattered.
Glass exploded across the floor.
Everyone ducked.
A bullet struck the wall.
Rory pulled me behind a cabinet.
“Stay down.”
Another shot.
Then silence.
Security guards rushed upstairs.
No shooter.
Only a small object lay outside the broken window.
A watch.
The silver watch from Elena's coat.
Rory picked it up.
The back had been opened.
Inside was a tiny folded photograph.
Rory unfolded it.
It showed Elena, Agnes, and a young woman.
Evelyn.
But the woman beside them wasn't Evelyn.
It was someone else.
Someone I recognized.
My former employer.
The woman who had hired me as a maid.
Rory looked at me.
“You know her.”
I shook my head.
“Only professionally.”
Frank stepped closer.
“What's her name?”
I told him.
“Clara Benton.”
Marianne's face went white.
“No.”
Rory looked at her.
“You know her?”
“She was Elena's financial adviser.”
Frank stared at the photograph.
“She wasn't.”
He pointed to the woman.
“That's not Clara.”
Rory frowned.
“Then who?”
Frank whispered,
“That's Evelyn's daughter.”
Everyone froze.
Rory looked at me.
“You said the agency owner hired you.”
“Yes.”
“Then Clara knew exactly who you were before you ever entered this house.”
A noise came from downstairs.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
Someone was walking toward the attic.
Rory raised his gun.
A woman's voice floated up the staircase.
“Rory?”
He froze.
It was Lily.
But the voice that followed belonged to Agnes.
“Don't shoot.”
Rory lowered his weapon.
Then Agnes stepped into view.
She was holding both girls.
May you like
And behind her stood Clara Benton.
Holding a knife.
