Chapter 7 - THE LOCKED ROOM
The next morning, I went through every photograph I had of Alice.
Birthdays.
School events.
Christmas mornings.
Family vacations.
Then I noticed something.
A photograph from six months earlier.
Alice was standing beside my father.
She was smiling.
But my father wasn't looking at the camera.
He was looking at her wrist.
I zoomed in.
There was a small red mark.
I had never noticed it.
I called Rebecca.
She told me not to panic.
Then she asked whether Alice had ever mentioned being alone with Grandpa.
I thought.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Several times.”
“What did she say?”
I remembered.
“She said Grandpa sometimes took her into the study.”
Rebecca went quiet.
“Did you ever know why?”
“No.”
I went to my parents' house.
They weren't home.
The front door was locked.
But I still had a key.
I entered.
The house smelled exactly as it always had.
Cinnamon.
Furniture polish.
Christmas candles.
Except now every room looked sinister.
I walked upstairs.
My father's study was locked.
I had never seen it locked before.
I tried the key.
Nothing.
Then I remembered the garage.
Dad kept a spare key inside a small wooden box.
I found it.
The door opened.
The study was almost empty.
Too empty.
As though someone had recently removed things.
I searched the desk.
Nothing.
Then I noticed the bookshelf.
One book sat crooked.
I pulled it.
A hidden drawer opened.
Inside was a USB drive.
My hands shook.
I took it.
At home, Rebecca instructed me not to open it alone.
We copied the contents.
There were documents.
Bank records.
Emails.
And dozens of photographs.
Some were of Alice.
My stomach turned.
None were inappropriate.
But they were strange.
Alice sleeping.
Alice playing.
Alice sitting in the backyard.
Photographs taken without my knowledge.
Then Rebecca found a folder.
Its name was:
ALICE — MEDICAL
I opened it.
There were copies of medical records.
School records.
Vaccination records.
And one document that made my heart stop.
A life insurance policy.
Alice was insured for $500,000.
The policy had been taken out by my father.
And the beneficiary wasn't me.
It was Vanessa.
I stared at the screen.
Rebecca whispered:
“Carolyn…”
I couldn't answer.
Because suddenly the Christmas night made sense in a way that terrified me.
May you like
Alice wasn't merely unwanted.
Someone had a financial reason to control her.
