CHAPTER 3 The Fingerprints That Changed Everything
Emma felt the room disappear.
"No."
The word came out quietly.
Impossible.
She had never touched Richard's car.
Never.
Daniel stared at her.
And for the first time...
Suspicion entered his eyes.
"Explain."
Emma stood up immediately.
"I can't."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"You can't?"
"I didn't do this."
"Your fingerprints were found inside my father's car."
"I know what you heard."
"Then help me understand."
Emma looked at him.
Because she understood.
Daniel wasn't accusing her.
Not completely.
He was desperate.
His entire world was collapsing.
"My fingerprints were not there because I hurt your father."
"Then why were they there?"
Emma said nothing.
Because she remembered something.
A moment she had buried.
A moment she never told anyone.
Three weeks before Richard died...
He had called her to the garage.
He had handed her a small box.
Inside was a necklace.
A necklace that belonged to his late daughter.
Daniel's sister.
A woman who died ten years earlier.
Richard told Emma:
"If anything happens to me, give this to Daniel."
Emma had asked:
"Why me?"
Richard answered:
"Because everyone else has already chosen a side."
Emma looked at Daniel.
"I was in the car once."
His expression changed.
"When?"
"The night your father gave me something."
"What?"
"The necklace."
Daniel stared.
"My sister's necklace?"
Emma nodded.
Daniel stepped back.
"My father never gave that to anyone."
"He did."
"Why?"
Emma whispered:
"I think because he knew someone in your family wanted that necklace."
Daniel's face darkened.
"What was so special about it?"
Emma reached into her apron.
She pulled out a small velvet pouch.
Daniel stared.
"You still have it?"
Emma nodded.
"I was going to give it to you today."
Slowly, she opened it.
Inside was an old silver necklace.
Daniel picked it up.
His hands began shaking.
Because he recognized it.
But not the necklace itself.
The engraving on the back.
A tiny symbol.
A symbol he had seen before.
On his father's private documents.
On hidden files.
On locked rooms.
"What does this mean?" Emma asked.
Daniel didn't answer.
Because suddenly he remembered something.
A conversation he overheard as a child.
His father arguing with someone.
A voice saying:
"You promised nobody would ever find the Harrington bloodline file."
Daniel looked at Emma.
His face was pale.
"My father wasn't hiding money."
Emma waited.
"He was hiding a person."
Before Emma could respond, the lights inside the police station suddenly went out.
Darkness filled the room.
A second later...
A phone began ringing.
Everyone froze.
Because the phone on the table belonged to Richard Harrington.
The dead man.
Daniel slowly picked it up.
A distorted voice spoke from the other end.
"You opened the coffin."
Daniel couldn't speak.
The voice continued:
"Now you know why he wanted to be buried with the truth."
A pause.
Then:
"But you made one mistake."
Daniel gripped the phone.
"What mistake?"
The voice answered:
"You trusted the girl who broke it."
The call ended.
And from the hallway outside...
May you like
A scream echoed.
Someone had found another body.
