Chapter 3 - The Case That Vanished in the Dark

Gabriel stared at his empty hands.

The power returned ten seconds later.

The ballroom music stopped.

Guests began whispering.

Gabriel looked at me.

“Who touched you?”

“I don’t know.”

Victoria looked toward the service corridor.

“Someone ran that way.”

Gabriel turned.

I followed him.

So did Margaret.

Victoria hesitated.

Then came with us.

The corridor behind the ballroom was narrow and bright.

One of the service doors was moving.

Slowly.

Gabriel opened it.

Empty staircase.

No black case.

No Marcus.

I looked at the floor.

A gold cuff link rested beside the first step.

I picked it up.

A small letter M was engraved on it.

Gabriel stared.

“My uncle’s.”

Victoria shook her head.

“That could have been planted.”

Gabriel looked at her.

“You keep defending people who lied to me.”

“I’m trying to stop you from doing something before you know everything.”

Joseph’s voice came from behind us.

“That is exactly what her mother used to say.”

Margaret had pushed his wheelchair into the corridor.

Joseph looked tired.

But his eyes were clear.

Gabriel crouched beside him.

“What was in the case?”

“Copies of payments.”

“What else?”

“Hospital records.”

“Anything original?”

Joseph hesitated.

“One key.”

Gabriel frowned.

“To what?”

Joseph looked at Margaret.

She answered.

“Room 314.”

Victoria went pale.

I noticed.

So did Gabriel.

“You know that room.”

Victoria said nothing.

Gabriel stood.

“Victoria.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“My mother took me there.”

“When?”

“Six weeks ago.”

Gabriel stared at her.

“The photograph.”

She nodded.

“That’s where it was taken.”

Joseph looked away.

Gabriel’s voice became hard.

“What is in Room 314?”

Victoria wiped her face.

“I don’t know.”

Margaret said:

“Yes, you do.”

Victoria looked at her.

“I never went inside.”

“You stood outside while Evelyn did.”

Gabriel stepped closer.

“What did your mother carry out?”

Victoria’s mouth opened.

Then closed.

Finally:

“A metal box.”

Joseph shut his eyes.

Margaret whispered:

“Oh no.”

Gabriel looked at them.

“What?”

Joseph opened his eyes again.

“The originals.”

“What originals?”

“The first ledger.”

“The one you had the night you disappeared?”

Joseph nodded.

“I hid it before they moved me.”

Gabriel stared.

“How?”

“I was conscious for less than five minutes after the crash.”

He looked at Margaret.

“She was the nurse in the ambulance bay.”

Margaret nodded.

“He gave me a key and one sentence.”

I asked:

“What sentence?”

She looked at Gabriel.

“Keep it where Marcus cannot own the door.”

Gabriel frowned.

Margaret continued.

“St. Matthew’s room 314 belonged to a charity foundation, not the Raines organization.”

Victoria whispered:

“My mother’s foundation bought that floor three years later.”

Joseph looked at her.

“Exactly.”

Gabriel turned away.

The pieces were getting worse.

Not better.

A security guard hurried toward us.

“Mr. Raines.”

Gabriel looked at him.

“Where is Marcus?”

“We can’t find him.”

“Check every exit.”

“We did.”

The guard hesitated.

“His car is gone.”

Victoria looked down.

Gabriel noticed again.

“What aren’t you saying?”

She whispered:

“My mother has a house fifteen minutes from St. Matthew’s.”

Gabriel stared.

“You think he is going there.”

“I think they already planned for this.”

Joseph gripped the arm of his wheelchair.

“Then we need to get to Room 314 first.”

Gabriel looked at his father.

“You are not going anywhere.”

Joseph almost smiled.

“You found me twelve minutes ago and you’re already giving me orders.”

For the first time, Gabriel’s expression softened.

Only for a second.

Then I heard something behind the linen cart.

A phone vibrating.

I moved it.

There was a black coat on the floor.

Under it was a man.

One of the temporary servers.

Unconscious.

Gabriel knelt beside him.

The man was breathing.

Beside his hand was the stolen black case.

Open.

Empty.

Except for one thing.

A hospital key card.

Room 314.

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Across the plastic, written in fresh black ink, were four words.

YOU ARE TOO LATE.