Chapter 3 - The Woman Amelia Trusted.
Ethan did not sleep that night.
Celeste was taken to the police station for questioning.
She was not formally charged immediately because investigators still needed to determine exactly what had happened inside the mansion.
Sophie refused to leave Ethan’s side.
He moved them into the downstairs library because she no longer wanted to sleep upstairs.
At three in the morning, Sophie finally fell asleep against his chest.
Ethan remained awake.
Every few minutes, his eyes returned to Amelia’s photograph.
Trust Nora Hayes.
He had not heard Nora’s name in almost two years.
Nora had been Sophie’s nanny from infancy.
She had also been Amelia’s closest friend.
Then shortly after Amelia died, Nora suddenly resigned.
Celeste had told Ethan that Nora wanted retirement.
Ethan had believed her.
Now he wondered what else he had believed.
At sunrise, he searched his old contacts.
Nora’s number was disconnected.
He called his attorney.
He called former household employees.
He called the agency that had once handled Nora’s payroll.
Nothing.
Finally, the former estate gardener remembered something.
“Nora moved to Mystic.”
“Do you know where?”
“No.”
The gardener hesitated.
“But she came back once.”
“When?”
“About four months after Mrs. Cole died.”
Ethan sat straighter.
“Why?”
“She wanted to see you.”
“I never saw her.”
“I know.”
“What happened?”
“Miss Bennett told security not to let her through the gate.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
Celeste.
Again.
By eight o’clock, Ethan had an address.
He drove to Mystic with Sophie and two detectives following several car lengths behind.
Nora lived in a weathered cottage overlooking the water.
She opened the door before Ethan reached the porch.
The moment she saw Sophie, she covered her mouth.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
Sophie ran into her arms.
Nora began crying.
Ethan had expected explanations.
Instead, he felt ashamed.
“You tried to contact me.”
Nora looked at him.
“Seventeen times.”
Ethan swallowed.
“I never knew.”
“I know.”
They sat inside while Sophie drank warm chocolate at the kitchen table.
Ethan placed Amelia’s photograph in front of Nora.
Her face changed.
“You found the message.”
“She found it.”
Ethan nodded toward Sophie.
Nora closed her eyes.
“Then Amelia was right.”
“About what?”
“That Celeste would eventually move.”
Ethan leaned forward.
“Tell me everything.”
Nora began with the final months of Amelia’s life.
Amelia had been sick.
Weak.
But mentally sharp.
She had discovered unexplained payments leaving a trust account.
The transfers went to a company called Meridian Heritage Consulting.
Amelia investigated quietly.
Meridian was controlled through several shell companies.
The final beneficiary was Richard Vale.
“But Richard Mercer didn’t enter our lives until after Amelia died.”
“That’s what you think.”
Nora reached into a cabinet.
She removed an envelope.
Inside was a photograph taken at a charity dinner five years earlier.
Richard stood in the background.
Beside him was Celeste.
They were holding hands.
Ethan stared at it.
“They knew each other.”
“Long before she met you.”
The room became painfully silent.
Nora continued.
“Celeste did not accidentally enter your life after Amelia died.”
“What are you saying?”
“She was introduced to you.”
“By whom?”
“Richard.”
Ethan felt the answer before Nora said it.
“They selected you.”
Sophie looked up from her chocolate.
Ethan lowered his voice.
“Why?”
“Because of Amelia’s trust.”
Nora slid another document across the table.
It was an old article about the Vale Capital collapse.
Richard’s photograph was younger.
But unmistakable.
Beside him stood a woman identified as his fiancée.
Celeste Bennett.
Ethan’s stomach twisted.
They had been together for more than a decade.
Every argument.
Every tender moment.
Every promise Celeste had made.
The engagement.
The wedding plans.
It had all been constructed.
Nora reached across the table.
“Ethan, the silver key matters more than anything.”
“What does it open?”
“A private deposit box.”
“What’s inside?”
“I don’t know.”
“You said Amelia trusted you.”
“She did.”
Nora’s expression darkened.
“That is why she never told me.”
Ethan frowned.
Nora whispered.
“She said if I knew what was inside, Richard would eventually come looking for me.”
A knock sounded at the door.
Everyone froze.
The detectives outside should have stopped visitors.
Then Ethan’s phone rang.
One of the detectives was calling.
“Mr. Cole, stay inside.”
“What’s happening?”
“We found a vehicle near the back road.”
“Whose?”
The detective hesitated.
“Richard Mercer’s.”
Ethan looked toward the windows.
“Is he there?”
“No.”
“Then where is he?”
May you like
The detective’s answer made Nora turn pale.
“We think he followed you here.”
