Page 19

NINETEEN

I took a deep breath. At least the storage room was huge. I had a thing about small dark spaces. It helped that Kieran was there, too. He was always so calm and collected.

“I’ll just try to text my sister,” I said. But the text went nowhere. “The signal is out again. Do you have any bars?”

He sighed. “No. It probably went out with the power. And I left my SAT phone in the evidence room when your sister was worried about you earlier and came to make me search for you.”

“But when your people realize they can’t get in touch with you they will figure out where we are, right?”

“Except that I didn’t tell them.”

Great. “Well, we told Nora we were looking into things, and when my sister can’t find me, she will search the place. And I think I mentioned we were coming down here. It’s just a matter of when she realizes we aren’t around. I suggest we stay busy until she figures it out. Otherwise, my anxiety might kick in.”

I’m a strong woman, but the idea my sister might not find me caused my insides to twist. I forced myself to breathe again.

Kieran took my hand in his and squeezed. His touch had a calming effect, and the warmth of him seeped through me.

“How do you suggest we do that in the dark?” He didn’t sound annoyed, more inquisitive.

“I have at least a ten-hour charge on my phone, and I carry a charger bank in my pocket.” I prayed we weren’t down here long enough to find out how long my phone would last. “While we’re searching through the paintings, we can talk about who might have locked us in,” I said. “Someone isn’t happy with us being down here.”

“Top of that suspect list would be the accountant.”

I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. “Agreed. But is he working alone? When we left, he was in the room with the others, playing the mystery game.”

“It doesn’t mean he couldn’t sneak down here and lock the door.”

“True. Maybe the killings weren’t pre-meditated. The killer perhaps tried to reason with Sarah, but when she wouldn’t listen, he or she strangled and drowned her. Same with Carl. Maybe, they were asking for a bigger cut of the profits.”

“It has to be someone strong to strangle her,” he said. “And the water wasn’t that deep, so someone powerful held her down.”

“Okay, stay with me,” I said. “If the killer was Maximillian, would he have the strength? He’s tall, pasty, and quite thin. I just don’t see him doing either killing.”

“People can surprise you.”

“True. And I know you need evidence and not gut instincts, but I really don’t see him as a killer. I keep saying that, but it’s true. Though, it’s obvious he’s ripping off his clients in a big way.”

“Like you said before, he could be working with someone who works on-site. That’s what the evidence is telling us,” he said. “Well, you’re correct about one thing.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“I can’t go by your gut instincts. I need evidence.”

I sighed.

“We keep going in circles,” I said. “At least, we’ve caught one criminal, even if it isn’t for the murders. And you can stop Maximillian. The O’Sullivans are going to be so shocked to discover they are millionaires several times over. I can’t believe what he’s been doing to them.

“And what will happen when you arrest Sally?”

“That will depend on the O’Sullivans and if they want to press charges, since it’s obvious she has a psychological problem. You heard them talking about her therapy, and the court will look kindly on the fact that she’s been trying to get help. She may just get probation. Again, depends on the O’Sullivans.”

“I wonder if your team have found the evidence of the theft, and Maximilian’s fraud.”

“I’m sure they have.”

“Do you think the lights going out really have to do with the storm?”

“Are you asking whether someone is planning something tonight? It’s possible.”

“I’m worried about Lizzie. She may be in a room with a killer, and we are stuck down here. Someone wanted us trapped.”

Panic rose tight in my chest.

“We need to get out of here,” I said. “What if she’s in danger?”

“How do you propose we do that? The lock is on the other side of the door.”

“Right, but the secret passages run along every floor. Why should this one be any different? Let’s look for another entrance.”

It took nearly an hour of us moving things away from the wall and searching for something that looked like a lever or feeling for air coming through the wall. We were at the far end of the room when we finally had some luck.

“There is air coming through the mortar here,” I said. I pushed on the wall but nothing happened. “Do you see any kind of handle or lever?”

“No.” He ran his hands across the back wall.

“It has to be here.” I tried pushing harder on the stones, and there was a slight give. “I think it’s stuck. Come help me.”

He moved beside me, his pine-scented cologne filling my senses. I wasn’t sure how he always smelled like a fresh forest, but he did.

This isn’t the time to think about that sort of thing . But his scent had a calming effect on my nerves.

“It feels like it hasn’t been opened in some time,” he said. “With all the dust, probably no one has been here in months or maybe even years.”

“Which makes me wonder why, if they were planning to steal something, our killer hadn’t been down here.”

“If they were in league with the accountant maybe they didn’t need to yet.”

“Or they were looking for another way in. We kept hearing someone inside the walls. Maybe they’ve been trying to find a secret entrance to the storage room all this time. Gordon said he never let the key out of his sight when he gave it to you.

“They could have been trying to find a way to take things out of this room without anyone seeing them.”

“That is true,” he said. “Let’s give it a hard shoulder. On three.”

He counted down, and we hit the wall hard. It shifted slightly. Not enough to get through, but at least we’d found what we’d been looking for. After four tries, it was open enough for us to slip through.

From the cobwebs covering the walls, it appeared no one had been down here in years. I would need a shower and good scrub from head to toe. I didn’t mind spiders when they were outside, but I had a completely different opinion when I had to walk through their webs.

I shivered.

“I’ll go first,” Kieran said as if he could read my mind. “There should be a stairway at the end of the passageway.”

I hoped he was right.

Even with the light from his phone, it was so dark. It took us a few minutes to find the stairs. And climbing them was slow, as we tried to figure out where we were.

“Let’s try that door,” I said when we’d gone up a flight of stairs. “Maybe we will be in the main part of the house and can figure out our next move.”

He nodded.

As he pushed open the door there was a chilling scream and then a crash.

I recognized that scream. I’d heard it before.

Lizzie was in trouble.