CHAPTER 6 – THE TRUTH HIDDEN IN A CHILD'S DRAWING
CHAPTER 6 – THE TRUTH HIDDEN IN A CHILD'S DRAWING
Victor Kane disappeared before Emily could ask another question.
When she stepped into the hallway, he was simply... gone.
Mrs. Bennett approached carrying fresh towels.
"You met Mr. Kane."
Emily nodded.
"I don't like him."
The housekeeper's face tightened.
"Neither did Mrs. Moretti."
Emily froze.
"What do you mean?"
Mrs. Bennett looked around to make sure no one else could hear.
"Isabella wanted him fired."
"Why?"
Before she could answer, another servant hurried over.
"Mrs. Bennett! Mr. Moretti is looking for you."
The older woman immediately fell silent.
As she walked away, she whispered only three words.
"Trust your instincts."
That afternoon, Emily found Ava sitting beneath a huge oak tree in the garden, drawing quietly.
The little girl seemed calmer outside.
Birds chirped overhead.
For a few precious minutes...
She looked like an ordinary child.
Emily sat beside her.
"What are you drawing today?"
Ava held up the page.
It was another house.
This one looked exactly like the Moretti mansion.
Every room had been carefully sketched.
Every hallway.
Every staircase.
Then Emily noticed something impossible.
Beneath the basement...
Ava had drawn another level.
A hidden floor.
"What is this?"
"The downstairs downstairs."
Emily smiled gently.
"I didn't know there was one."
"There isn't."
Ava tilted her head.
"Not anymore."
Emily's smile faded.
"What do you mean?"
"They covered it up."
"Who did?"
"Daddy and the bad man argued."
Emily's heartbeat quickened.
"What bad man?"
Ava tapped the drawing.
"The one with the silver watch."
Victor Kane wore a silver watch.
Emily remembered it clearly.
Before she could ask another question...
Ava picked up a brown crayon.
She carefully colored a small rectangle beneath the hidden basement.
Then she wrote one word.
MOMMY.
Emily's breath caught.
"What is Mommy doing there?"
Ava answered without looking up.
"Waiting."
That evening, Emily confronted Dominic in his office.
He stood at the window overlooking the estate, a glass of untouched whiskey in his hand.
"Your daughter drew something today."
He didn't turn around.
"She draws a lot."
"A hidden basement."
Silence.
"And she says Isabella is there."
Dominic's fingers tightened around the glass.
Finally, he faced her.
His expression had become unreadable.
"Emily..."
"What really happened to your wife?"
He looked exhausted.
Not angry.
Just tired.
"I've asked myself that question every day for two years."
"You don't believe it was an accident."
"No."
"Then why haven't you reopened the investigation?"
"I did."
His voice dropped.
"Three detectives died."
Emily stared.
"What?"
"One disappeared."
"Another's car exploded."
"The third resigned and left the country."
The room fell silent.
"Someone powerful buried the truth."
Emily whispered,
"And you think they're still watching."
Dominic nodded once.
"They've been watching since the funeral."
At that exact moment, the office phone rang.
Dominic answered.
His face changed instantly.
"What?"
He rushed past Emily.
"Where's Ava?"
A terrified guard came running down the hallway.
"Sir!"
"The security cameras just lost her!"
Emily's heart stopped.
"What do you mean 'lost her'?"
The guard swallowed hard.
"She was in the east garden..."
"...then every camera went black for exactly thirty seconds."
"And when they came back..."
"...Ava was gone."
The mansion erupted into chaos.
Guards sprinted across the grounds.
Dogs were released.
Helicopters lifted into the night sky.
Emily stood frozen.
Then she noticed something lying on the marble floor near the front entrance.
Ava's stuffed rabbit.
Pinned beneath a black envelope.
Inside was a single photograph.
It showed Ava asleep in her own bedroom...
Taken only hours earlier.
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Across the picture, someone had written in red ink:
YOU WERE HIRED TOO LATE.
