Chapter 3
Security logs showed Corinne entered the west hallway during six major family gatherings over the previous eight months.
Not once.
Six times.
Her household credential did not open Elise’s room.
Someone had used a physical key.
The same kind Poppy found.
Thayer stared at the report.
“Where did she get another one?”
Security chief Marcus Hale answered:
“We don’t know yet.”
“Who had keys originally?”
“You. Elise. Estate maintenance.”
“Elise’s was hidden in the music box.”
“Yes.”
“Mine?”
“In your private safe.”
Thayer checked.
Still there.
That left maintenance.
The locksmith who serviced the mansion retired two years earlier.
His company records showed one duplicate had been made eighteen months ago.
Requested by:
Corinne Knox.
Purpose:
Estate inventory.
Thayer read it twice.
“I never authorized this.”
“No.”
The request included an email attachment appearing to come from Thayer’s household office.
Miriam examined it.
The domain was correct.
The signature block was his.
But the originating account belonged to a delegated estate administrator Corinne had been permitted to use for wedding planning and household renovations.
Another system nobody questioned because her name was connected to Thayer.
The pattern bothered him.
Corinne did not break into Elise’s room.
She used borrowed authority to make an unauthorized key look ordinary.
Miriam asked:
“What is in the old records?”
“Depends which box.”
“Anything criminal?”
Thayer looked at her.
“Old family history.”
“That was not my question.”
He exhaled.
“Some records involve my father’s business relationships from twenty years ago.”
“Illegal?”
“Possibly improper. Possibly just ugly.”
“Anything current?”
“I don’t know.”
Miriam closed the folder.
“That answer is going to matter.”
Thayer did not like it.
He liked the truth more.
“Then we review everything.”
“Not yet.”
He looked at her.
Miriam continued.
“First we establish what Corinne accessed.”
Nora provided another detail.
During parties, Corinne routinely asked staff where Poppy was.
But not in a protective way.
“She would ask whether Poppy was upstairs.”
Thayer frowned.
“Why?”
“I assumed she wanted the child away from guests.”
“That part we know.”
Nora hesitated.
“She also asked whether you were still at the table.”
Thayer’s attention sharpened.
“When?”
“Before leaving the dining room herself.”
That was the first clue that the parties served two purposes.
Poppy was isolated.
And Corinne used the distraction to enter Elise’s room while Thayer was occupied.
May you like
The cruelty and the secrecy were connected.
Thayer just did not yet understand how.
