Chapter 1
Magnus did not touch Sabina again.
He turned away from her and ran toward the second grille.
“Lottie, stay behind me.”
His daughter caught the back of his tuxedo jacket.
“I know her voice.”
Magnus stopped.
“Who?”
Lottie swallowed.
“Miss Nora.”
Nora Whitfield.
Thirty-seven.
An independent art conservator who had worked with Magnus’s late first wife, Helena, for nearly a decade.
Nora also helped administer the collection Helena left in trust for Lottie.
Magnus stared at the second grille.
Nora was supposed to be in Boston.
He pulled the decorative panel loose.
Behind it was another section of the mansion’s old service corridor.
At first he saw darkness.
Then a hand.
“Nora?”
A weak voice answered.
“Magnus.”
He forced the interior latch.
Nora Whitfield crawled toward the opening.
Her evening coat was torn at one sleeve.
There was a bruise near her temple.
Her wrists were red where something had been tied around them earlier, though nothing restrained her now.
Magnus caught her before she fell.
Party guests were gathering at the far end of the hall.
He raised one hand.
“Back.”
Everyone stopped.
Sabina stood near the ballroom doors with one palm against her cheek.
Her expression had finally changed.
No smile now.
Magnus looked at his security chief.
“Owen.”
Owen Price stepped forward.
“Sir.”
“Police.”
Sabina laughed.
“For what?”
Magnus ignored her.
“Ambulance too.”
Nora shook her head.
“I’m okay.”
“No.”
Magnus’s voice stayed calm.
“You were locked inside my wall.”
Then he looked toward Lottie.
His daughter had started crying again.
Magnus crouched.
“Come here.”
She ran into him.
He wrapped one arm around her while keeping Nora steady with the other.
The entire party had become silent enough that the music from the ballroom sounded ridiculous.
Sabina spoke.
“You are making this dramatic.”
Magnus slowly looked at her.
“You locked my daughter inside a service passage.”
“She likes hiding.”
Lottie immediately shook her head.
“No.”
Sabina’s eyes sharpened.
Magnus felt his daughter press closer.
“You locked Nora in there too?”
Sabina folded her arms.
“I have no idea why Nora is in your wall.”
Nora laughed weakly.
It hurt enough that she stopped.
“You put me there.”
Sabina stared at her.
“That’s absurd.”
Nora looked at Magnus.
“She took my phone.”
Magnus looked toward Owen.
Owen was already moving.
“No one leaves with bags until police determine what they want preserved.”
Magnus corrected him immediately.
“No one is detained by us.”
Owen nodded.
“Understood.”
“Preserve the cameras. Door logs. Staff access. Everything.”
Then Magnus looked down at Lottie’s arms.
The bruises were not severe.
That mattered.
He refused to let anger turn them into something they were not.
But there were several.
Too many for one night.
“When did those happen?”
Lottie looked embarrassed.
“Crawling.”
“In there?”
She nodded.
“Sometimes it’s dark and I bump things.”
Magnus closed his eyes.
Sometimes.
Not tonight.
Plural.
Repeated.
A pediatrician later found no serious injuries.
No fractures.
No dehydration.
The bruises were consistent with repeated bumps against narrow walls and hard flooring.
Emotionally, the situation was worse.
Lottie told the child-welfare investigator that Sabina had locked her inside the passage during “a lot of parties.”
She could remember five clearly.
Christmas.
A fundraiser.
Magnus’s birthday dinner.
An anniversary party.
Tonight.
Perhaps more.
Magnus sat in the hospital family room while Lottie was examined.
Nora was in another room receiving treatment.
Owen stood nearby looking sick.
“I didn’t know.”
Magnus looked at him.
“You’re security chief.”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t know my daughter was disappearing during parties.”
Owen did not defend himself.
“No.”
Magnus’s anger rose.
Then stopped.
Owen was answering correctly.
No excuses.
Magnus asked:
“Where did you think she was?”
“Sabina always told staff Lottie became overwhelmed by crowds and went upstairs with a sitter.”
Magnus stared.
“What sitter?”
Owen looked down.
“That should have been the question.”
Yes.
It should have.
Then Nora’s doctor came out.
“She wants to speak with you.”
Magnus entered.
Nora was sitting upright.
Her phone had not been found.
She looked at Magnus.
“You need to freeze Helena’s collection inventory tonight.”
He frowned.
“My wife locked you in a wall and you’re worried about paintings?”
Nora’s answer came immediately.
“No.”
May you like
She looked toward the hallway where Lottie was being examined.
“I’m worried about why she needed both of us out of sight.”
