Chapter 4: The Girl Who Knew Too Much
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Adrian Whitmore stood at the foot of the staircase, holding Lily's note between his fingers as though the paper itself might burn him.
*MOM IS NOT DEAD THE WAY THEY TOLD YOU.*
I watched the color drain from his face.
“No,” he whispered.
Victoria appeared at the top of the stairs.
“What is it now?””
Adrian slowly raised his eyes toward her.
“You told me Rebecca died at the scene.””
“She did.””
“You told me the police identified her body.””
“They did.””
“You told me Lily was unconscious when the ambulance arrived.””
Victoria descended one step.
“Adrian, you're upsetting yourself over a child's scribbling.””
He held up the note.
“Then explain this.””
Victoria glanced at the words and shrugged.
“Lily has an active imagination. You know that.””
“Do I?””
His voice was so quiet that the security guard beside him took a step backward.
“Because I don't remember you ever allowing me to spend enough time with her to find out.””
Victoria's jaw tightened.
She reached the bottom of the stairs and extended her hand.
“Give me the note.””
Adrian folded it and slipped it into his pocket.
“No.””
“She's my responsibility.””
“According to a document that appears to be forged?””
“Don't start that again.””
“I haven't stopped.””
Victoria looked toward the security guard.
“Find the girl. Search the grounds. Check the guesthouse, the stables, and the servants' quarters.””
The guard hesitated.
“Mrs. Whitmore, Mr. Whitmore has already instructed us to—”
“I give the orders in this house!””
“Not anymore,” Adrian interrupted.
His voice cracked through the entrance hall.
“You will search the grounds, but no one is to touch Lily if you find her. No one is to take her anywhere without my permission. And if anyone has already helped her leave this estate, I want to know who.””
The guard nodded and hurried outside.
Victoria stared at her husband.
“You're making a terrible mistake.””
“Then let me make it.””
He turned to Eleanor.
“When did you last see Lily?””
“Yesterday afternoon, sir.””
“And this morning?””
Eleanor shook her head.
“I thought she was in her bedroom.””
Adrian looked at me.
“You saw her this morning, didn't you?””
“Yes. Around six.””
“What did she tell you?””
I remembered Lily standing outside my door, clutching her stuffed rabbit.
She had asked whether I was leaving.
She had spoken about the west wing, the hidden room, and the key her mother had supposedly left behind.
But one detail suddenly seemed more important than the rest.
“She told me that broken things weren't bad things,” I said.
“She said her mother used to fix things. She was talking about her stuffed rabbit.””
Adrian stared at me.
Then he looked at the note again.
“Her mother used to say that.””
His voice faltered.
“Rebecca used to say exactly that.””
Victoria folded her arms.
“Lots of people say sentimental things to their children.””
Adrian turned toward her.
“Stop talking.””
She recoiled as though he had struck her.
I had never heard anyone speak to Victoria like that.
Adrian walked into the drawing room and placed the backpack on the table. He carefully removed every item, examining the pockets and seams.
The crackers were stale.
The sweater smelled faintly of smoke.
The button eye was wrapped in a piece of tissue.
But there was something else.
A tiny silver pendant, shaped like a crescent moon.
Adrian picked it up.
For the first time since I had met him, his composure completely broke.
He sat down heavily.
“Where did you find this?””
“It was in the backpack,” I said.
He turned the pendant over.
On the back, four words had been engraved in tiny letters.
*UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN.*
His fingers closed around it.
“Rebecca wore this every day.””
Victoria's expression changed.
It was the smallest movement—a tightening around the eyes, a slight pull at the corner of her mouth.
But Adrian saw it.
“You recognize this.””
“Of course I do. She was my sister-in-law.””
“Then why are you frightened?””
“I'm not frightened.””
He stood abruptly.
“Marissa, call the police.””
Victoria stepped forward.
“Absolutely not.””
Adrian turned.
“Move.””
“You cannot bring police officers into this house over a note written by an unstable child.””
“An unstable child who disappeared from your custody.””
“She ran away!””
“Then the police can help us find her.””
Victoria reached for his arm.
“Adrian, please. Think about the press. Think about the family. Think about what people will say if they hear that an eight-year-old girl ran away from our home.””
He looked down at her hand.
Then he gently removed it.
“I am thinking about the child.””
He took out his phone.
Victoria's voice became sharper.
“If you make that call, you will destroy everything we have built together.””
Adrian dialed.
“No,” he said.
“You did that yourself.””
I watched him speak to the emergency dispatcher, explaining that a child was missing from the estate and might be in danger.
While he gave the address, I moved toward the drawing room window.
Beyond the gardens, the eastern boundary disappeared into a line of trees. A narrow service road ran along the outer wall, leading toward an abandoned greenhouse.
I had noticed it during my first week.
The greenhouse had broken windows and a rusted roof. According to Eleanor, it hadn't been used in years.
But something about Lily's note bothered me.
She had drawn a door.
Not a gate.
Not a window.
A door.
I turned toward Eleanor.
“Does Lily have anywhere she likes to hide?””
Eleanor hesitated.
“Why?””
“Because I don't think she simply ran away. I think she went somewhere she believes is safe.””
Eleanor looked toward the window.
Then she whispered, “The greenhouse.””
Adrian ended his call.
“What about it?””
Eleanor's hands trembled.
“Rebecca used to take Lily there when she was little. There was a small room behind the greenhouse where they kept gardening supplies. Rebecca turned it into a playroom.””
Victoria suddenly laughed.
“That place is falling apart.””
Eleanor didn't look at her.
“Lily still goes there sometimes. Or she used to.””
Adrian grabbed his coat.
“Show me.””
We hurried through the side entrance and crossed the gardens. The morning air was cold, and damp leaves clung to my shoes.
As we approached the greenhouse, I noticed something in the mud.
Small footprints.
They led from the service road to the broken wooden door.
Adrian saw them too.
“Lily?””
No answer.
He pushed the door open.
The hinges groaned.
Inside, dead vines hung from the ceiling, and rainwater dripped through the cracked glass panels. Broken flowerpots lay scattered across the floor.
At the far end stood a narrow wooden door.
Eleanor hurried toward it.
“Lily used to call this her secret room.””
Adrian tried the handle.
Locked.
He struck the door with the flat of his hand.
“Lily, sweetheart, it's Uncle Adrian. Are you in there?””
Silence.
Then a tiny voice came from the other side.
“Did Aunt Victoria send you?””
Adrian closed his eyes.
“No, sweetheart. She didn't send me.””
A long pause followed.
“Is she with you?””
I stepped closer.
“Lily, it's Marissa. I'm here too.””
Something moved behind the door.
“Are you really?””
“Yes.””
“Did you tell him about the bowl?””
I swallowed.
“Yes, Lily. I did.””
The lock clicked.
The door opened two inches.
Lily peered through the gap.
Her face was pale, and her cheeks were streaked with dirt. She clutched the stuffed rabbit against her chest.
When she saw Adrian, she immediately tried to close the door.
He placed one hand against the frame, not forcing it open.
“Please don't be afraid of me.””
“You didn't come before.””
The words struck him harder than any accusation Victoria could have made.
Adrian lowered himself to his knees.
“You're right. I should have come before.””
“You said you would visit.””
“I know.””
“You promised Mom.””
His eyes filled with tears.
“I know, Lily.””
She stared at him.
“Then why didn't you?””
Adrian opened his mouth, but no answer came.
Finally, he said, “Because I believed things I shouldn't have believed. And I'm sorry.””
Lily studied his face for a long moment.
Then she stepped out of the room.
Adrian reached toward her, but she flinched.
He immediately lowered his hand.
“It's okay,” he whispered.
“You don't have to let me touch you.””
She looked at me instead.
“Can Marissa come with us?””
“Of course,” Adrian said.
I took Lily's hand gently.
Her fingers were cold.
As we stepped outside, she suddenly grabbed my sleeve.
“Did you find the box?””
Adrian exchanged a look with Eleanor.
“Yes,” he said.
“We found it.””
“Did you open it?””
“No. We need your key.””
Lily looked toward the mansion.
“Aunt Victoria knows about the box.””
“Yes.””
“She'll try to take it.””
Adrian's expression hardened.
“She won't.””
Lily shook her head.
“You don't understand. She isn't afraid of the box.””
“What is she afraid of, sweetheart?””
Lily looked at him.
“What's inside it.””
She reached into the pocket of her sweater and pulled out a tiny brass key.
Then she pressed it into Adrian's palm.
“My mom said you would know what to do when you saw the letter.””
Adrian stared at the key.
“What letter?””
Lily's lips trembled.
“The one that proves my mother didn't die.””
Before he could ask another question, a car engine roared outside the greenhouse.
We turned toward the service road.
Victoria's black SUV had stopped beside the gate.
She stepped out, holding a phone to her ear.
Her gaze locked onto Lily.
For the first time, the woman who had ruled the Whitmore estate with an iron hand looked genuinely terrified.
May you like
Then she shouted something that made Adrian turn sharply toward his niece.
“Don't let her open that box! Rebecca's letter isn't the only thing she left behind!””
