Chapter 5 - THE BLUE KEY
The letter mentioned a copied ledger.
The burglars had not found it inside the apartment.
Maria did not know where Ava had hidden it.
Sofia had left no written instructions.
Lily sat on the floor examining Mr. Buttons.
She pushed one finger deeper into the open seam.
Something metallic clicked against the table.
A small blue key fell from the rabbit.
Maria picked it up.
A number had been engraved along the edge.
318.
Ethan recognized the shape.
“Harrington Station lockers.”
The old commuter station had once belonged to his grandfather’s railroad company.
Most of its storage lockers had been removed during renovation.
A section remained beneath the eastern platform.
They reached the station after dark.
Calvin accompanied them.
Rebecca brought two independent security officers.
Ethan no longer trusted the tower team.
Locker 318 stood near the end of a narrow corridor.
The blue key opened it.
Inside was a metal lunchbox.
Maria remembered Ava carrying it to college.
The box contained a blue notebook, a cassette recorder, and several financial statements.
The notebook listed transfers from Harrington Relief into companies that officially did not exist.
One received nearly three hundred million dollars after a hurricane.
Another collected funds intended for children’s hospitals.
The signatures belonged to Conrad Harrington and Sebastian Harrington.
Sebastian had been twenty-nine at the time.
Old enough to understand every page.
Rebecca examined the records.
“Many of these companies are still active.”
Ethan turned toward her.
“Run a current audit.”
“Quietly.”
“Use no Harrington server.”
Maria lifted the cassette recorder.
Its batteries had corroded.
Calvin knew an electronics technician who could restore it.
Before they left the station, footsteps sounded at the far end of the corridor.
A man in a dark coat appeared.
He raised a phone.
The security officers moved in front of Maria and Lily.
The man ran.
Calvin chased him toward the stairs.
The stranger escaped onto a waiting motorcycle.
He dropped the phone.
The device contained photographs of Maria’s apartment, Lily’s daycare, and Ethan’s office.
One recent message read,
The maid has the key.
Recover the ledger before tomorrow’s board meeting.
The sender was listed only as S.H.
Sebastian Harrington.
Ethan closed his fingers around the phone.
May you like
His cousin had not merely known about Ava’s evidence.
He had spent eleven years waiting for it to reappear.
