Chapter 7 - The Blackmere Family's Perfect Lie
The ring was delivered to Roman's office before dawn.
He examined it without touching the metal directly.
"Is it his?" he asked.
I nodded.
"Victor wore it every day."
Dominic placed the accompanying note inside an evidence sleeve.
"Someone entered her room despite the security upgrades."
Roman's expression turned lethal.
"Find out how."
The investigation revealed that the intruder had used a staff entrance opened with a legitimate access code. The code belonged to a longtime groundskeeper who swore he had never shared it.
Roman believed him.
Someone else had obtained the code.
By lunchtime, three members of the security team had been removed from the estate pending investigation.
The mansion became a place of suspicion.
Servants whispered in kitchens. Guards watched one another. Doors that had remained unlocked for years were suddenly secured with electronic panels.
I hated the fear spreading through the house.
It reminded me of Victor's home, where everyone knew something terrible had happened but nobody dared ask what.
That afternoon, Roman summoned me to the family dining room.
Eleanor was already seated. Beside her sat Julian Blackmere, Roman's younger cousin and the apparent heir to several family businesses.
Julian wore an expensive navy suit and a smile that never reached his eyes.
"So," he said, examining me, "you're the mysterious maid."
"Nora Vale."
"Of course. I've heard quite a lot about you."
I didn't like the way he said it.
Roman took the chair at the head of the table.
"Julian has agreed to help us review the old financial records."
"How generous," I replied.
Julian chuckled.
"You're sharp for someone in your position."
"You're rude for someone in yours."
Eleanor hid a smile behind her teacup.
Roman's mouth twitched, but he quickly returned to business.
Julian claimed the warehouse transfers had been authorized by Richard Blackmere and that Victor had merely managed the paperwork. He insisted that the bookkeeper had been dismissed for embezzlement, not murdered.
"Where is the dismissal record?" I asked.
Julian glanced at me.
"What?"
"If the man was dismissed, there should be a record."
"That was years ago."
"Then finding it should be easy."
His smile disappeared.
Roman watched him closely.
"She's right," he said. "Find the record."
Julian's eyes hardened.
After the meeting, he caught up with me near the conservatory.
"You should be careful, Nora."
"Is that a threat?"
"It's advice."
"From a man who thinks people can be dismissed like paperwork?"
He stepped closer.
"You don't understand the family you're interfering with."
I looked directly at him.
"Perhaps you should explain it."
His smile returned.
"Perhaps I will."
He walked away.
That evening, Dominic discovered that Julian had made three calls to a number associated with Victor Sloane.
Roman listened to the report without interrupting.
Then he ordered a full audit of Julian's financial dealings.
When I found him alone in the library, he was staring at a photograph of his father.
"Do you think he knew?" I asked.
Roman didn't look up.
"I think he knew enough to protect himself."
"And Julian?"
Roman placed the photograph facedown.
"Julian has spent his entire life believing that being born into this family makes him untouchable."
"Does it?"
"No."
His voice became colder.
"But it has made him careless."
For the first time, I realized that Victor might not be the only man hunting the truth.
The danger inside Blackmere House had a familiar face.
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And it belonged to someone who had been sitting at the family table all along.
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