Chapter 5 - The Girl Who Followed the Music
Richard reached the library so quickly that he nearly collided with Margaret.
"Where is she?"
Margaret's face was pale.
"I turned around for less than thirty seconds."
Richard looked at the open garden door.
"Did somebody take her?"
"I don't know."
Vanessa stood beside the fireplace, holding Daniel.
"She was sitting right there."
She pointed toward a small velvet chair.
"Then she heard something outside."
Richard's heart hammered.
"What?"
"Music."
Margaret looked at him.
"The music box."
Richard froze.
A melody drifted through the garden.
Six notes.
A pause.
Four more.
Elizabeth's melody.
It was faint but unmistakable.
Richard ran through the open door.
Cold evening air struck his face.
The October garden was illuminated by lanterns along the stone walkways.
Beyond the rose bushes, a narrow path led toward Elizabeth's old greenhouse.
Richard had not entered it since her funeral.
He could see a small figure moving near the glass doors.
"Lily!"
She turned.
"Daddy?"
Richard stopped long enough to catch his breath.
"Stay right there."
Lily looked frightened by his voice.
He immediately softened it.
"Please, sweetheart."
"I'm not going anywhere."
Richard approached carefully.
The music stopped.
The garden became quiet.
Lily was standing beside a low stone bench.
On it sat the missing walnut music box.
Its lid was open.
Richard looked around.
"Who gave you that?"
Lily pointed toward the greenhouse.
"The man."
Richard turned sharply.
Nobody was there.
"What man?"
"The one with the hat."
Richard moved between Lily and the greenhouse.
"Did he touch you?"
"No."
"Did he tell you to come out here?"
Lily shook her head.
"He said Mommy left something for me."
Richard felt his anger rising.
The stranger had lured his daughter outside during a security emergency.
Whatever his intentions, that was unacceptable.
He knelt in front of her.
"Lily, you must never follow someone you don't know."
"But I know him."
Richard stared.
"What?"
Lily looked confused.
"He came to see Mommy."
"When?"
"Before she went to heaven."
Richard swallowed.
"Where did you see him?"
"In the garden."
"Did Mommy introduce you?"
Lily nodded.
"She called him Uncle Adrian."
Richard's breath caught.
Adrian.
He knew that name.
Elizabeth had once mentioned an Adrian Cross.
A childhood friend.
Someone she had lost touch with long before their marriage.
Richard remembered a conversation from years earlier.
They had been sitting on the back porch.
Elizabeth had received a letter and seemed unusually upset.
When Richard asked about it, she said someone from her past needed help.
He had offered money.
She had declined.
"Some things can't be fixed with a check, Richard."
He remembered laughing gently.
"Most things can."
Elizabeth had looked at him for a long moment.
"No," she had said.
"Not the important things."
Richard had never asked again.
Now the memory made him ashamed.
"Lily, where did Uncle Adrian go?"
She pointed toward the greenhouse.
"He said you'd know what to do with the box."
Richard looked down.
A small key was attached to the music box by yellow ribbon.
He remembered Lily telling him about it.
He inserted the key into a hidden opening beneath the base.
Something clicked.
A narrow drawer slid out.
Inside was a memory card.
And a folded letter.
Richard opened the letter first.
My darling Lily,
If you are reading this one day, I hope your father is beside you.
I hope he finally understands that being strong doesn't mean always being right.
Sometimes it means admitting you were wrong before someone else gets hurt.
Richard stopped reading.
His eyes filled.
He could almost hear Elizabeth speaking.
Lily leaned against him.
"Is Mommy talking to me?"
Richard nodded.
"Yes, sweetheart."
He continued.
There is something I wanted you to have when you were older.
Not money.
Not jewelry.
The truth about why our family became so frightened during my final year.
I tried to protect you both.
But I could not do it alone.
The last line was written in heavier ink.
Tell Adrian the song is finished.
Richard stared at the words.
He turned the letter over.
Nothing else.
"What's that mean?" Lily asked.
"I don't know."
A low voice answered from behind the greenhouse.
"It means she knew I would come back."
Richard spun around.
The man in the fedora stepped into the lantern light.
Up close, he looked younger than Richard had expected.
Early thirties.
Sharp features.
Dark eyes.
A thin scar near his chin.
He removed his hat.
"Richard Whitmore."
Richard stepped in front of Lily.
"Stay away from my daughter."
Adrian stopped.
"Fair enough."
"Who are you?"
"Adrian Cross."
"I gathered that."
"Then you know Elizabeth trusted me."
"I know you used a child to expose a crime."
Adrian's expression changed.
"I didn't arrange what happened at that altar."
"You were smiling."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Adrian looked toward the music box.
"Because Leonard's plan had just failed."
Richard felt his anger sharpen.
"You expected Lily to expose Vanessa."
"I suspected she might."
"You should have stopped it."
Adrian's face tightened.
"I tried."
Richard stared at him.
Adrian continued.
"I sent three warnings to your office this month."
"I never received them."
"Leonard intercepted them."
"Then you should have come to me."
"I did."
"When?"
"Twice."
Richard searched his memory.
Two meetings had been canceled by Leonard.
One with an independent financial investigator.
Another with a man claiming to represent a private foundation.
Both had been labeled fraudulent solicitations.
"That was you?"
Adrian nodded.
Richard looked away.
Adrian lowered his voice.
"I didn't know you would strike Lily."
Richard stiffened.
"Don't."
"I saw what happened."
"I said don't."
"Then don't pretend it didn't happen."
Richard turned back.
His eyes burned.
"I know what I did."
"Good."
Adrian glanced at Lily.
"Because she deserves a father who knows."
The little girl looked between them.
"Are you mad at Daddy?"
Adrian knelt several feet away.
"I'm disappointed in something he did."
Lily considered that.
"Me too."
Richard closed his eyes.
The words hurt.
They were supposed to.
Adrian stood.
"The memory card contains the evidence Elizabeth collected."
Richard held it tightly.
"Evidence of what?"
"Foundation fraud, corporate theft, forged medical records, and a conspiracy that may have contributed to your wife's death."
Richard felt the blood leave his face.
"May have?"
"We haven't proven it."
"Then why did Elizabeth die?"
Adrian's expression became guarded.
"That's what I've been trying to find out."
Richard heard footsteps approaching.
Margaret emerged from the garden path with two uniformed police officers.
She stopped when she saw Adrian.
For a moment, she looked as though she had seen a ghost.
"Adrian."
He nodded.
"Margaret."
Richard noticed the way they looked at each other.
Not like strangers.
Not even like old friends.
Like two people who had been carrying the same terrible secret for years.
Richard's voice turned cold.
"What happened the night Elizabeth died?"
Margaret said nothing.
Adrian looked at her.
"Tell him."
She shook her head.
"Not here."
Richard stepped forward.
"Tell me."
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.
"Richard, Elizabeth called me that night."
His breath stopped.
"From the hospital?"
"No."
Margaret swallowed.
"From her car."
Richard stared.
Elizabeth had supposedly suffered a sudden medical crisis at home.
She had been taken to the hospital unconscious.
That was what Richard had been told.
"Her car?"
Margaret's voice broke.
"She was driving to meet Adrian."
Richard looked at the man.
Adrian didn't move.
"Why?"
Margaret covered her mouth.
"Because she had discovered who was poisoning her medication."
Richard felt the ground shift beneath him.
Lily pressed against his leg.
"Daddy?"
He barely heard her.
Margaret began crying.
"Elizabeth thought she knew who it was."
Richard's voice came out as a whisper.
"Who?"
May you like
Margaret looked directly at him.
"She thought it was someone sleeping under your roof."
