Chapter 5 - The Lie Inside the House

Mrs. Whitfield woke in the hospital with a concussion and six stitches behind her ear.

Her first question was about Zuri.

Her second was, "Who hit me?"

Damon sat beside the bed.

"We're working on that."

Naomi stood near the window with Zuri asleep against her shoulder.

Mrs. Whitfield frowned.

"I went into the music room because someone had moved the piano bench."

"Who?"

"I don't know. I heard footsteps. Then nothing."

Damon showed her a photograph of Jared Pike.

She shook her head.

"I've seen him before, but not today."

Caleb asked, "Who knew the ring was in the music room?"

Mrs. Whitfield looked at Damon.

"You, me, Naomi, Caleb."

"No one else?"

She hesitated.

Damon saw it.

"Tell me."

"Rosa brought tea after you moved it."

Naomi's face tightened.

"Rosa?"

"She saw the velvet box."

Rosa Delgado had worked at Ashford House for seven years.

Damon had trusted her with keys, schedules, guests, and private family routines.

He did not want another trusted name to become a suspect.

That was precisely why he knew he had to investigate.

Back at the estate, Rosa cried before anyone accused her.

"I didn't hurt Mrs. Whitfield."

Damon placed the note on the kitchen table.

"Did you tell anyone about the ring?"

"No."

"Think carefully."

"I did not."

Naomi watched her.

"Rosa, someone knew."

"I swear."

Damon asked, "Who called you yesterday?"

Rosa looked confused.

"My sister. The pharmacy. Mr. Vale's assistant."

Silence.

Damon said, "Why did Adrian's assistant call you?"

"She asked whether Mr. Vale had left his glasses here."

"Did he?"

"No."

"What did you tell her?"

"Only that he had already gone."

"Anything else?"

Rosa's face changed.

She looked down.

Damon's voice hardened. "What else?"

"She asked if the house was upset after he left."

Naomi stepped closer.

"And?"

"I said yes. I said everyone was searching the old rooms."

"Did you mention the ring?"

Rosa began crying.

"I said Mrs. Ashford's ring had been found."

Damon closed his eyes.

There it was.

Not betrayal.

Carelessness.

Adrian had not needed a spy inside the house.

He had needed gossip.

Damon asked, "Did you say where it was?"

"No."

Caleb said, "Then how did whoever attacked Mrs. Whitfield know the ring had been moved to the music room?"

Rosa whispered, "I don't know."

Zuri, sitting at the table with crayons, looked up.

"The man asked."

Everyone turned.

Naomi crouched. "What man?"

"The phone man."

Damon's pulse accelerated.

"Did you hear Rosa talking?"

Zuri nodded.

"She said music room."

Rosa went pale.

"I did not."

Zuri pointed toward the pantry.

"Phone was there."

Caleb walked inside.

A small smart speaker sat on the shelf.

Damon stared at it.

"That's not ours."

Rosa blinked. "I thought Mrs. Whitfield bought it."

Mrs. Whitfield had not.

Caleb unplugged it and opened the casing.

Inside was a modified microphone transmitting over cellular data.

Naomi whispered, "The house was bugged."

Damon felt a wave of anger so clean it almost became calm.

"Search everything."

Professional investigators from an outside firm arrived under nondisclosure agreements.

By evening, they found three more devices.

One in the pantry.

One near the east staircase.

One beneath Damon's study desk.

The final device was older than the others.

Its installation dust pattern suggested it had been there for years.

Naomi stared at it.

"Elena may have been watched before she died."

Damon nodded.

"Isaiah probably discovered it."

Caleb connected the device to an isolated terminal.

Its internal storage held fragments of old audio.

Most were corrupted.

One was not.

Elena's voice filled the study.

"I know what you did."

Then Adrian.

"You know what you think you saw."

"I saw transfers. I saw Victor enter the garage. Isaiah copied the footage."

Adrian's tone changed.

"Give me the drive."

"No."

"You are going to destroy your marriage over this obsession."

"My marriage is already being destroyed by men who keep telling my husband I'm unstable."

Damon sat down hard.

The recording continued.

Adrian said, "Damon trusts me."

Elena answered, "That's why this works."

A door slammed.

Then silence.

Naomi looked at Damon.

"You heard part of that argument."

He nodded.

"And walked away."

"Yes."

No one tried to comfort him.

He did not deserve comfort yet.

Caleb found another fragment.

Victor's voice.

"Car's ready."

Adrian answered, "Good."

"When?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"What if she takes the driver?"

"She won't. She fired him last month."

Elena had not fired her driver.

Adrian had reassigned him after convincing Damon they needed to reduce estate staff.

Damon stood.

"Call the district attorney."

Caleb looked surprised.

"You said we needed stronger evidence."

"We have conspiracy evidence, financial motive, illegal surveillance, and a direct reference to her car."

Naomi said, "And Isaiah?"

Damon looked at her.

"We investigate his accident too."

Before he could make the call, his phone rang.

Unknown number.

He answered.

Adrian's voice came through.

"You should have stopped when I warned you."

Damon signaled Caleb to record.

"You attacked Mrs. Whitfield."

"No."

"You sent Pike."

"Careful."

"Why? Worried about defamation?"

Adrian laughed softly.

"I'm worried grief has made you reckless again."

Damon looked at Elena's ring.

"You said that about her too."

Silence.

Then Adrian spoke more quietly.

"Elena forced choices none of us wanted to make."

Damon's blood went cold.

"Say that again."

But Adrian had already realized too much.

The line went dead.

Caleb checked the recording.

"We got it."

Naomi stared at the phone.

"Not a confession."

"No," Damon said. "But enough to make him afraid."

Zuri entered the study holding the lion.

She placed it in front of Damon.

"The lady says you're listening now."

No one spoke.

Damon touched the cold gold figurine.

For the first time, he did not ask Zuri how she knew.

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He asked the question Elena had been trying to make him ask for three years.

"What am I supposed to hear next?"