Chapter 29 - The House Was Never Empty
Elise and Nora returned to Blackwater Orchard.
The farmhouse had been released after investigators finished collecting evidence. Rebecca and Ava joined them, each carrying a copy of Samuel’s key.
The envelope contained a map of the house.
A hidden staircase beneath the kitchen led to a room below the cellar.
Inside were four beds, children’s drawings and shelves filled with personal records.
Samuel had prepared the room as a refuge.
He had expected Elise, Nora, Amelia and Ava to find one another years earlier.
On the wall was a timeline documenting every attempt he made to expose Malcolm.
The final entry was dated the night Samuel died.
M. KNOWS THE HOUSE IS NOT EMPTY.
They searched the room.
Nora discovered fresh food wrappers in a wastebasket.
Someone had lived there recently.
Elise followed faint footprints through a second tunnel leading into the orchard.
At the end stood a small cottage hidden among the trees.
The door was unlocked.
Inside, photographs covered the walls.
They showed Elise at work, Nora visiting Daniel, Ava entering the courthouse and Rebecca leaving the hospital.
Someone had continued monitoring them after Malcolm’s arrest.
A laptop played a live security feed from Victor’s prison.
Elise opened a desk drawer.
Inside was the brass bell that had belonged to the real Amelia Cross.
A floorboard creaked behind them.
A woman stood in the doorway.
A burn scar crossed her left wrist.
Nora whispered, “Amelia?”
The woman looked at Rebecca.
“You held a funeral for me,” she said.
May you like
Then she looked at Elise.
“And you gave my killer your evidence.”
