Chapter 3 - The Secret Inside the Hollow PostAudrey knelt beside him on the hardwood floor, her knee brushing against his arm. “What are you talking about, Adam? This was my father’s old desk-bed frame from his first architectural studio on Maple Street.”
Adam reached into his toolbox, pulling out a slim flexible inspection camera attached to his smartphone. He guided the tiny camera lens up into the hollow leg of the frame.
On his phone screen, a dark, cylindrical object appeared, wrapped tightly in oilskin cloth and bound with rusted steel wire, wedged deep inside the iron column.
“Your father didn't just build furniture, Audrey,” Adam said, his voice quiet with sudden intensity. “He built a vault.”
Paige gasped softly. “Is that what I think it is?”
Adam didn't waste time. He grabbed his metric socket set, quickly removing the four custom bolts securing the headboard crossbar. With a firm, practiced pull, the lower section of the iron leg slid open, revealing a hidden compartment carefully concealed beneath the decorative brass cap.
He reached inside, his calloused fingers hooking around the heavy, oilskin-wrapped bundle.
He pulled it out carefully and laid it on the clean rug between them.
Audrey’s hands shook as she cut the rusted wire using Adam’s wire cutters. She unrolled the heavy protective cloth.
Inside lay a thick, leather-bound architectural journal and a set of pristine, original land-deed certificates stamped with the official corporate seal of Holloway & Whitmore, dated 1994.
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Tucked into the back cover was a handwritten letter in dark blue ink.
Audrey gasped, her fingers hovering over the handwriting. “It’s my dad’s handwriting.”
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