Chapter 8 - The Locked Room
I didn't speak to Daniel at breakfast.
He didn't force me to.
Ava noticed immediately.
"Are you mad at him?"
I buttered her toast.
"Why do you ask?"
"Because he's looking sad."
I glanced toward the doorway.
Daniel stood there with his coffee.
When he saw me looking, he lowered his eyes.
Ethan studied both of us.
"Adults are complicated."
Despite everything, I almost smiled.
"Yes, honey."
"They should come with instructions."
Daniel laughed quietly.
It was a small sound.
But Ava smiled.
And for one moment, the house felt almost normal.
Then Nora called.
"I need to meet you."
"Where?"
"Not on the phone."
"Is this about the document?"
"Yes."
I looked toward Daniel.
"Can I bring someone?"
"Olivia."
"Not Daniel?"
A pause.
"I don't know yet."
Thirty minutes later, Olivia and I met Nora inside a small private office near downtown Tucson.
Two investigators waited outside.
Nora spread copies of old records across the table.
"Your father was working on a battery-storage control system."
I nodded.
"He used to talk about it."
"He discovered that a cheaper substitute component had been installed in a prototype facility."
"That sounds like a manufacturing problem."
"It was more than that."
Nora showed me an engineering diagram.
"The substitute bypassed a safety cutoff."
My stomach tightened.
"Could it cause a fire?"
"Yes."
"And my father reported it?"
"Repeatedly."
She slid another document toward me.
It was a letter addressed to Edward Hayes.
My father's handwriting filled the page.
I recognized every crooked capital letter.
Edward, someone changed the testing records.
If this system is installed, people will die.
My eyes filled with tears.
Nora continued.
"Patrick refused to certify the project."
"What happened?"
"Three days later, a fire destroyed the research building."
I pressed a hand over my mouth.
Nora's voice softened.
"Four people died."
"And Richard claimed it was an accident."
"Yes."
"Did Edward know?"
Nora hesitated.
"He signed the official acceptance."
I looked at Olivia.
"Does that mean he knew the report was false?"
"Not necessarily," she replied.
"Then what does it mean?"
"It means we need the original records."
Nora nodded.
"That's why I asked you here."
She removed a photograph.
It showed a narrow wooden door hidden behind shelves of books.
"This was taken inside the Hayes estate."
I recognized the hallway.
"The west wing."
Nora leaned closer.
"Daniel's mother kept a private archive."
"Claire Hayes?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because she believed her husband was being deceived."
I remembered Daniel telling me his mother had demanded an investigation.
Nora continued.
"She collected copies of correspondence, photographs, and recordings."
"Where are they now?"
"Behind that door."
I stared at the picture.
"Why hasn't Daniel opened it?"
"Because the room was sealed after Claire died."
A cold feeling settled over me.
"Who sealed it?"
Nora looked at me.
"Richard."
That evening, I found Daniel outside the west wing.
He was speaking to a security technician.
When he saw me, he straightened.
"Sarah."
"We need to talk."
His eyes moved toward Olivia standing behind me.
"About what?"
"Your mother."
Daniel went still.
I showed him the photograph.
He stared at it for several seconds.
"Where did you get this?"
"Nora."
His jaw tightened.
"She shouldn't have that."
"Did your mother keep an archive?"
"Yes."
"Then why is it locked?"
"Because after she died, my father said the room should remain untouched."
"Did Richard tell him that?"
Daniel's expression changed.
"I don't know."
I looked toward the door.
"Open it."
"Sarah—"
"My father died trying to protect people."
My voice trembled.
"Your mother tried to find out why."
I looked him directly in the eye.
"Open the room."
For a long moment, Daniel didn't move.
Then he turned toward the technician.
"Get the lock open."
The man worked for nearly an hour.
Finally, the mechanism clicked.
Daniel pushed the door inward.
Dust hung in the air.
Inside stood filing cabinets, shelves of leather-bound notebooks, and an old desk.
A framed photograph of Claire Hayes sat beneath a lamp.
She was beautiful.
Dark hair.
Kind eyes.
A smile that reminded me of Daniel's.
He picked up the frame carefully.
"I haven't seen this picture since I was nineteen."
My anger softened.
Just a little.
Then Olivia opened the first cabinet.
The drawers contained years of documents.
Letters.
Meeting notes.
Copies of checks.
Photographs.
Nora had been right.
Claire had kept everything.
Daniel found a stack of cassette tapes labeled with dates.
One bore the words:
PATRICK – FINAL MEETING.
I stared at it.
"Can we play that?"
Daniel looked at me.
Then he nodded.
The technician found an old tape recorder in a cabinet.
He inserted the cassette.
Static crackled.
Then I heard a voice I hadn't heard in fourteen years.
My father's voice.
"Edward, if Richard puts that system into production, somebody is going to die."
A second man spoke.
Edward Hayes.
"Patrick, you're accusing my brother of fraud."
"I'm accusing whoever changed the reports."
Another voice interrupted.
Cold.
Impatient.
Richard.
"You're being emotional."
My father's answer was immediate.
"Four people are working in that building tomorrow."
"Then perhaps you should stop making trouble," Richard replied.
A chair scraped.
Edward spoke sharply.
"Richard, enough."
My father said something quieter.
Something that made my entire body go cold.
"I copied everything."
Silence.
Then Richard asked, "Where?"
My father answered.
"Somewhere you'll never think to look."
The tape ended.
Daniel stared at the machine.
Olivia exhaled slowly.
"That may establish knowledge of the safety concerns."
But I barely heard her.
Because I suddenly remembered the music box.
The little wooden box my father had pressed into my hands a week before the fire.
The box that never played.
I grabbed my phone.
I called Nora.
"Find Caleb."
"Why?"
"Because I think my father hid the original evidence in something he gave me."
"What?"
"A music box."
Nora went silent.
Then she whispered.
"Sarah, there's something you should know."
My stomach tightened.
"What?"
"Caleb sold a small wooden music box to a collector yesterday."
I closed my eyes.
"Who bought it?"
May you like
Nora's answer made Daniel turn sharply toward me.
"Richard Hayes."
