Chapter 8 - THE VOICE FROM THE LOCKED ROOM
Isabella had heard Samuel Hayes's voice inside Blackstone House.
That single statement changed the investigation overnight.
Clara stared at her mother.
"Are you sure?"
Isabella nodded.
"I know his voice."
"When?"
"Four weeks ago."
"What did he say?"
Isabella closed her eyes.
"He was arguing with Anthony."
Clara's stomach tightened.
"About what?"
"About you."
Casey stood near the doorway.
His expression changed.
"My father spoke to Samuel?"
Isabella nodded.
"Yes."
Casey looked toward his attorney.
"Was anyone else found at Blackstone House?"
The attorney shook his head.
"Not during the initial search."
Clara felt anger rise.
"Then we need to keep looking."
Investigators reviewed the property's security footage and communication records.
The house contained several unused offices and an old service wing.
One hallway camera had stopped recording months earlier.
But a maintenance log showed that a private elevator had been operating regularly.
The elevator led to a lower level not shown on the public building plans.
Clara stared at the information.
"Another hidden room?"
Casey looked grim.
"Apparently."
A lawful search of the lower level revealed storage cabinets, old laboratory equipment, and several medical records.
No patient was present.
But investigators found evidence that someone had occupied the space recently.
A bed.
Clothing.
Medication containers.
And a notebook.
The notebook belonged to Samuel Hayes.
Clara recognized the handwriting from old letters Nora had preserved.
Her hands trembled as she read the first page.
If anyone finds this, tell Isabella I never stopped looking.
She covered her mouth.
The next entries described Samuel's attempts to investigate Northbridge Biomedical.
He believed company executives had falsified trial records and diverted charitable funds.
When he threatened to expose the scheme, he was warned that Isabella and the baby would suffer.
He went into hiding.
For years, he gathered evidence.
Then, four weeks earlier, he returned to Blackstone House hoping to confront Anthony.
But something went wrong.
The final notebook entry was incomplete.
Anthony says Clara is working at Lucien.
Richard has found her.
If they know she's alive, she is in danger.
Clara stared.
Her heart hammered.
"That's why Richard hired me."
Casey nodded slowly.
"Possibly."
She turned the page.
One final sentence appeared.
The evidence is not in the laboratory.
It is inside the Vane Foundation's original records.
Casey's expression darkened.
The Vane Foundation.
A charitable organization his father had established decades earlier.
Casey had continued funding it after Anthony's supposed death.
For twelve years, he'd believed the foundation supported children's medical programs.
Now he wondered what had really happened to the money.
Then investigators found something on Samuel's notebook cover.
A recent fingerprint.
It belonged to Anthony Russo.
Casey's bodyguard.
The man who'd tried to poison him.
And suddenly, Casey understood.
Anthony Russo hadn't simply betrayed his boss.
He'd been working for Casey's supposedly dead father.
But the next discovery was even worse.
A bank record showed Russo had received a large payment two days before the poisoning attempt.
The sender was listed as:
SAMUEL HAYES.
Clara stared at the screen.
"My father paid him?"
Casey's face hardened.
"Or someone used your father's identity."
May you like
Then he looked at Clara.
"Either way, we need to find Samuel before the people behind this do."
