Chapter 6 - THE MAN BEHIND THE GLASS
Nathan didn't speak for several seconds.
Then he looked at Marcus.
“Who has my spare key?”
Marcus answered immediately.
“Three people.”
“Names.”
“Me. Your house manager, Evelyn Price. And Dr. Reeves.”
Nathan's eyes narrowed.
“Evelyn.”
I remembered her.
She had welcomed me earlier with a polite smile and nervous hands.
She had been working in the house for eleven years.
Nathan noticed my expression.
“You've seen something.”
“Not exactly.”
“Tell me.”
“When I arrived, Evelyn knew the boys' medication schedule without asking me.”
Nathan frowned.
“She manages the household.”
“That could be normal.”
“Yes.”
“But she also told me the twins always sleep with their windows closed.”
Nathan stared.
“Why?”
“She said the outside air made their breathing worse.”
Laura looked up.
“That doesn't make sense.”
Nathan turned toward Marcus.
“Find Evelyn.”
“She left an hour ago.”
Nathan's face hardened.
“Why?”
“She said she was going to pick up supplies.”
“When?”
“Just before the security alarm.”
Nathan looked at me.
“Did she say anything?”
I thought.
“She asked whether I had noticed anything unusual.”
Nathan's eyes narrowed.
“What exactly?”
“She asked whether the vent smelled strange.”
Silence.
Marcus immediately reached for his phone.
Nathan stopped him.
“No.”
Marcus looked surprised.
“No phone calls.”
Nathan's voice was low.
“If someone is watching the house, we don't warn them.”
He turned to Laura.
“Can you tell whether the device was activated today?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“The chemical concentration suggests recent dispersal.”
Nathan's face tightened.
“So whoever did this knows we've found it.”
“Probably.”
The boys were still upstairs.
Nathan looked at them through the doorway.
Then he made a decision.
“We're moving them to the guest cottage.”
Marcus nodded.
“No.”
Jacob spoke.
Everyone turned.
“I don't want to go.”
Nathan crouched beside him.
“Why?”
“Mommy said never sleep there.”
Nathan's expression changed.
“Why?”
Jacob shrugged.
“She said the windows were wrong.”
I looked at Marcus.
“The windows?”
Marcus frowned.
“What could be wrong with them?”
Jacob pointed toward the garden.
“The ones that don't open.”
Nathan stood.
“Check the cottage.”
Marcus left.
Minutes later, he returned.
“There's an old ventilation unit in the wall.”
Laura immediately followed him.
We moved together.
The guest cottage was smaller, warmer, and far less formal than the mansion.
Inside the wall, Marcus found another duct.
Laura inspected it.
“No contamination.”
Nathan exhaled.
Then she looked closer.
“But there is something here.”
She pulled out a small metal plate.
Behind it was a hollow cavity.
Inside sat a sealed envelope.
Nathan opened it.
Claire's handwriting.
Again.
If the boys are moved here, do not trust the windows.
Nathan looked at me.
“What was she trying to tell us?”
Laura examined the window.
“Maybe nothing about the glass itself.”
She touched the frame.
“This has been modified.”
Marcus removed the trim.
A tiny camera was hidden inside.
Nathan stared.
“They were watching the cottage too.”
I felt a chill.
“How many?”
Marcus searched.
“Two cameras.”
Nathan's voice became quiet.
“How long?”
“Unknown.”
The twins stood behind me.
Jacob whispered, “Mommy found them.”
Nathan turned.
“When?”
“Before she died.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Jacob looked confused.
“Mommy said you wouldn't believe us.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
That hurt more than any accusation.
Then Jonah walked over.
He took off his bracelet.
“Look.”
He turned it over.
The back had a tiny seam.
Nathan frowned.
“What is that?”
Jonah pressed the metal.
The bracelet opened.
Inside was a miniature memory card.
Nobody spoke.
Nathan looked at me.
“Claire put that there?”
Jonah nodded.
“She said it was our secret.”
Nathan stared at the card.
Laura immediately said, “Don't put it in a computer connected to the network.”
Marcus produced an isolated device.
They opened the files.
There were only three videos.
The first showed Claire standing inside the mansion.
She looked tired.
Afraid.
But composed.
“If you're watching this,” she said, “then Nathan finally knows.”
Nathan stopped breathing.
Claire continued.
“The boys aren't naturally sick.”
Nathan's eyes filled.
“I've been trying to prove someone is using the ventilation system.”
She held up a document.
“Northstar Environmental installed equipment in the house under the pretense of improving air quality.”
She paused.
“But they weren't working alone.”
The video ended.
Nathan immediately opened the second.
Claire appeared again.
This time she was standing in the kitchen.
“There's someone helping them from inside.”
She looked directly into the camera.
“I don't know how far it goes.”
Then she whispered:
“But it's someone Nathan trusts completely.”
The video ended.
Nathan looked at Marcus.
Then Evelyn's name appeared in all our minds.
But the third video changed everything.
Claire was sitting in the greenhouse.
She looked exhausted.
“I made one mistake.”
Nathan leaned toward the screen.
“I trusted the wrong person when I asked for help.”
She held up a photograph.
It showed Claire with a man.
Not Dr. Reeves.
Not Arthur Voss.
Someone else.
Nathan suddenly whispered.
“No.”
I looked at him.
“Who?”
He didn't answer.
The man in the photograph was younger.
But I recognized his face from a framed family photograph in the mansion.
Nathan's older brother.
Daniel Coleman.
Nathan's voice cracked.
“Daniel died twenty years ago.”
Laura looked confused.
“Then who is that?”
Nathan stared at the screen.
“That's not Daniel.”
He paused.
“That's his son.”
Marcus looked at him.
“Your nephew?”
Nathan nodded.
“Evan.”
I remembered the family portrait.
There had been an empty space beside Nathan's parents.
I asked, “Where is he?”
Nathan's face hardened.
“I thought he lived in California.”
Marcus checked.
Then his expression changed.
“He doesn't.”
“What?”
Marcus turned the screen.
“Evan Coleman has been living ten miles from this estate for the last eighteen months.”
Nathan stared.
“Why?”
Marcus swallowed.
“He's listed as a consultant for Northstar Environmental.”
The room went silent.
Then the security system chimed.
A message appeared.
GREENHOUSE ACCESS — AUTHORIZED.
Nathan looked at the screen.
“Who?”
Marcus checked.
His face went pale.
May you like
“Evan Coleman.”
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