Chapter 15 - iron hinges
Catherine stood up from her chair and walked over to the tall carved fireplace on the western wall of the library. She reached behind the dark oak paneling near the mantle, pressing her finger against a hidden brass spring embedded deep within the woodwork.
With a low, grinding click, a section of the wooden bookcase swung outward on concealed iron hinges, revealing a narrow, stone-lined wall safe built directly into the mansion's original foundation.
"This was our grandfather's private vault," Catherine said, stepping aside to let me look inside. "Arthur never found the secondary keyhole because it requires the crest of the rose gold signet ring to release the internal tumbler."
I stepped forward, holding the heavy gold ring in my trembling hand. I aligned the raised falcon crest with the small circular indentation inside the lock and pressed firmly.
A heavy mechanical thud echoed from within the stone wall, followed by the slow, smooth rotation of three iron bolts. The safe door swung open, revealing three velvet-lined drawers and a thick leather-bound volume tied with silver thread.
Sterling stepped closer, holding his flashlight over the open safe. "The master charter," he whispered in reverence. "The original land grant signed by the Commonwealth in 1842."
I reached out and pulled the heavy volume from the safe, setting it onto the library desk. As I untied the silver thread, a small folded piece of yellowed paper slipped from between the parchment pages and fell onto the floor.
May you like
I picked up the paper and unfolded it under the warm lamp light. Written in my mother's delicate, elegant handwriting was a message dated three days before her mysterious disappearance twenty years ago:
If my children read this, know that the fire was not an accident. The threat does not come from outside our walls. Beware the wolf within the crest.
