Chapter 6 - THE BLUE ROOM|
Adrian had ordered the blue room sealed after Sophia's death. The lock had not been changed since then, and dust covered the brass handle.
Elena stood outside it with Margaret and two security officers.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Margaret asked.
"No," Elena replied. "But I'm doing it anyway."
The guard opened the door.
The room smelled faintly of lavender. Pale blue curtains covered the windows, and a piano stood against one wall. Family photographs were arranged on a shelf. Sophia appeared in nearly all of them, smiling beside Adrian or holding Isabella as a baby.
Elena moved slowly through the room.
On the desk sat a framed photograph of Sophia holding a small silver locket. It was shaped like a rose.
Elena touched the glass.
"Was this hers?"
Margaret nodded.
"She wore it every day."
"Where is it now?"
"Mr. Corsetti thought it was buried with her."
Elena looked at the photograph more closely.
The locket had a black rose engraved on one side.
The same symbol as the bracelet.
But there was something else. A tiny mark near the hinge, almost hidden by the chain.
A number.
"Fourteen."
Margaret leaned closer.
"What?"
"There's a number engraved here."
Before Margaret could answer, Adrian entered the room.
"Don't touch anything."
Elena stepped back.
"I wasn't going to steal it."
"I didn't say you were."
He studied the photograph.
"That locket disappeared the night Sophia died."
"Was there something inside?"
"I don't know."
"Then perhaps it wasn't jewelry."
Adrian approached the desk.
"Sophia used to hide things in ordinary objects. She thought people overlooked what they believed was unimportant."
Elena glanced toward the piano.
"Did she play?"
"Every evening."
"Maybe she hid something there."
Adrian opened the piano bench. It contained old sheet music and a small velvet pouch. Inside was a key.
A handwritten note was folded around it.
If you ever find this, look where the music ends.
Adrian read the words twice.
"She wrote this?"
"Yes."
He examined the piano.
Elena opened the sheet music. The final page had been torn away, leaving a rough edge. She noticed a small envelope tucked behind the wooden frame.
Inside was a photograph of Sophia with a man Elena did not recognize. They stood outside the abandoned clinic from Isabella's drawing.
On the back, Sophia had written:
He knows what happened to Margaret.
Elena's fingers tightened.
"That's my mother."
Adrian looked at the picture.
"Who is the man?"
Margaret entered the room and stared at it.
"Victor Hale."
Adrian turned sharply.
"You're certain?"
"I saw him at the hospital many times. He was your father's security adviser."
"Victor told me he had never met Sophia."
Elena studied the photograph.
"Then he lied."
Adrian took out his phone.
"Bring Victor to the house."
Margaret shook her head.
"Sir, he left this morning."
"Where?"
"He said he was visiting his sister."
Adrian's expression darkened.
"Find him."
A security officer hurried away.
Elena looked at the key in Adrian's hand.
"Where does it go?"
"I don't know."
The key was old, made of dark metal, with a small engraving on the handle: N-14.
Elena remembered the number on Sophia's locket.
Fourteen.
"Maybe they belong together."
Adrian examined the key again.
"Northstar. Fourteen."
He searched the name on his phone.
Northstar Holdings owned the abandoned clinic.
A minute later, Margaret returned with a message.
Victor Hale's car had been found near the harbor.
The vehicle was empty.
The driver's seat was covered in blood.
Adrian stared at the screen.
Then his phone rang.
It was a number he hadn't seen in eleven months.
He answered.
A man's voice spoke calmly.
"Good evening, Adrian."
Adrian's face went rigid.
"Who is this?"
"You know exactly who I am."
The call ended.
Elena looked at him.
"Who was that?"
Adrian lowered the phone.
"Charles Voss."
"But you said he was alive."
"He is."
"Then why did you look like you saw a ghost?"
May you like
Adrian turned toward the window.
"Because Charles Voss was the last person I saw standing beside my wife before she died."
