Chapter 8: The Room Beneath the Lies
Malcolm waited until Tasha had taken Tyler and Kayla to stay with her sister before returning to the old house where he had grown up.
Margaret accompanied him.
Neither spoke much during the drive.
The house had been sold after Daniel's death, but the new owners had recently moved overseas. Malcolm still possessed a key to the storage shed and permission from the current owner to retrieve the last of his father's belongings.
He had never imagined that a childhood home could become a crime scene in his mind.
The front door creaked open.
Dust covered the hallway table. The wallpaper had faded to a dull yellow, and a water stain spread across the ceiling above the staircase.
Margaret paused in the doorway.
“Your father used to stand right there every Christmas morning,” she whispered.
“He'd pretend he hadn't heard you coming downstairs.””
Malcolm looked at the empty hallway.
“I wish I could remember him without wondering what else he lied about.””
Margaret touched his arm.
“You can remember what was real without excusing what was wrong.””
He nodded, then walked toward the study.
The room had once been Daniel's sanctuary. Heavy curtains covered the windows, and dark shelves lined the walls. A large wooden desk stood beneath a framed photograph of Malcolm as a child.
He remembered sitting beneath that desk while Daniel worked, playing with toy cars as his father typed.
Now the memory made his chest ache.
“Where would he have kept something he didn't want anyone to find?”” Malcolm asked.
Margaret studied the room.
“Your father trusted locks. But he trusted his own cleverness even more.””
She moved toward the desk.
“Check the bottom drawer.””
Malcolm opened it.
Inside were old pens, receipts, and a collection of envelopes tied with string. None contained the original trust documents.
He checked the bookshelves, the filing cabinet, and a locked cupboard beneath the window.
Nothing.
Then Margaret noticed a section of flooring near the desk that looked slightly different from the rest.
“Malcolm.””
He crouched.
One wooden plank had a small circular indentation near its edge.
He pressed it.
A concealed latch clicked.
Together, they lifted the plank.
Beneath it was a shallow compartment containing a black leather folder, several photographs, and a sealed envelope marked in Daniel's handwriting:
*THOMAS — ORIGINAL RECORDS.*
Malcolm reached for the folder.
Margaret stopped him.
“Remember what Tasha said.””
“Not to open the envelope alone.””
He placed it aside and examined the folder first.
The documents inside included bank transfers, copies of legal agreements, and correspondence between Daniel and a private investigator named Richard Hale.
One letter, dated six months before Rebecca's death, caught Malcolm's attention.
Richard,
Thomas has contacted me again. He claims he has a right to meet Malcolm and intends to challenge the trust arrangement.
I will not permit him to interfere after all these years. Find out where he is staying and report back immediately.
No contact is to be made with Malcolm or Rebecca.
The letter was signed Daniel Bennett.
Margaret gripped the desk.
“He knew Thomas was alive.””
Malcolm read the next letter.
Daniel,
I located Thomas in Ohio. He is using his middle name and has been living quietly under a different identity. He has asked me to deliver a message to Malcolm.
He says the truth cannot remain buried forever.
I recommend that you allow him to speak with his son before this becomes a legal matter.
The reply was dated three days later.
Absolutely not. If Thomas approaches my family, I expect you to make certain he never gets the opportunity.
Malcolm lowered the pages.
“What did he mean by that?””
Margaret's eyes filled.
“I don't know.””
He reached for the envelope marked Thomas.
It was sealed with a strip of old adhesive tape.
Inside was a birth certificate, a handwritten statement, and a photograph of a man standing beside a little girl.
The man looked remarkably like Malcolm.
The girl was Rebecca.
On the back of the photograph, Thomas had written:
To my children, Malcolm and Rebecca. I have spent too many years letting other people decide what you deserve to know.
Malcolm's hands trembled.
He unfolded the statement.
Thomas described the arrangement he had made with Daniel. He had agreed to let Daniel raise Malcolm because he believed the boy would have a stable home and a loving family.
But the agreement had never included the right to control Malcolm's inheritance.
Thomas had intended to challenge Daniel's actions after learning that money had been withdrawn from the trust.
Then, according to the statement, he had received a warning.
If you pursue this, neither child will be safe.
Thomas wrote that he had gone into hiding because he feared Daniel would use his influence to separate him permanently from both children.
The final paragraph was dated only weeks before Rebecca's death.
I am coming home. I have found someone who can prove what Daniel did. If I fail to reach my children, the evidence is hidden in the place where my mother kept her blue Bible.
Malcolm read the final line twice.
“His mother's blue Bible.””
Margaret looked confused.
“Where would that be?””
Malcolm remembered a small wooden house on the outskirts of town. Thomas's mother had lived there until her death, and Daniel had inherited the property.
“It was sold years ago,” he said.
“But Dad kept some of her belongings.””
He searched the compartment again.
At the bottom lay a photograph of a woman sitting beside a fireplace. On the mantel was a blue Bible.
Written on the back were the words:
The original evidence is still where she left it.
Margaret took the photograph.
“Then we need to find the Bible.””
Before Malcolm could respond, his phone rang.
Helen Brooks.
He answered immediately.
“Did you find something?”” she asked.
“We found evidence that Daniel knew Thomas was alive. There's a statement saying Thomas hid proof of the trust fraud inside his mother's blue Bible.””
Helen was silent for a moment.
“Malcolm, I need you to listen carefully. The bank's preliminary review has identified several transfers from the trust to an account associated with Tasha. But there's something else.””
“What?””
“The transfers didn't stop when Daniel died.””
Malcolm felt his stomach tighten.
“How long did they continue?””
“Until last month.””
He looked at Margaret.
Helen continued.
“The latest transaction was made three days ago. The receiving account belongs to a company registered under the name Thomas Collins.””
Malcolm gripped the phone.
“Thomas is alive.””
“Possibly. But there's a complication. The company has been paying a private security firm for several years.””
“Why?””
“I don't know. But the firm has an address on file.””
Helen read it aloud.
Malcolm recognized the street immediately.
It was the same street where Thomas's mother had lived.
The old house had never been sold.
It had been transferred into a company, then leased through a series of intermediaries.
Someone had been maintaining it in secret.
“I'm going there,” Malcolm said.
“Not alone,” Helen warned.
“If these records are genuine, there may be a safety issue. I'll contact the authorities and arrange for the documents to be examined.””
Malcolm agreed, then ended the call.
Margaret was already reaching for her coat.
“We'll go together.””
The house stood at the end of a narrow lane lined with bare trees.
Its white paint had peeled away in long strips, and the garden had grown wild. A rusty mailbox leaned beside the gate.
But when Malcolm stepped onto the porch, he noticed something strange.
The door had recently been repainted.
Fresh footprints marked the muddy path.
Someone was living there.
He knocked.
No answer.
He knocked again.
A curtain shifted in the front window.
Then a man's voice came from inside.
“Who is it?””
Malcolm swallowed.
“My name is Malcolm Bennett. I'm looking for Thomas Collins.””
Silence.
Then the lock turned.
The door opened a few inches.
An elderly man stood behind it, his hair white, his face lined with age.
Malcolm stared at him.
He recognized the eyes immediately.
They were his own.
The man gripped the doorframe.
“Malcolm?””
Margaret gasped.
The man looked at her.
“Margaret. I'm sorry.””
Malcolm could barely breathe.
“You're Thomas.””
The old man nodded.
“I should have come sooner.””
Malcolm took one step forward.
“Why did you let me believe you were dead?””
Thomas's eyes filled with tears.
“Because the last time I tried to tell you the truth, someone threatened to kill Rebecca.””
Margaret covered her mouth.
Thomas looked over Malcolm's shoulder toward the empty road.
“Come inside. We don't have much time.””
He led them into a small sitting room.
A blue Bible lay on the mantel.
Beside it was a photograph of Rebecca as a little girl.
Malcolm approached the mantel slowly.
“Is the evidence inside the Bible?””
Thomas nodded.
“But before you open it, you need to know something about your father.””
“Daniel?””
“No.””
Thomas took a shaky breath.
“Your biological mother.””
Malcolm turned.
“My mother was Margaret.””
Thomas shook his head.
“Margaret raised you. Daniel raised you. But the woman who gave birth to you wasn't Margaret.””
Malcolm stared at him.
Thomas's voice broke.
“Your biological mother was Rebecca's mother, Eleanor. She died shortly after you were born. Daniel convinced Margaret to raise you as her own because he wanted to hide the truth about my relationship with Eleanor.””
Margaret stumbled backward into a chair.
Malcolm felt as though the floor had disappeared.
“You're saying Rebecca was my half sister through you, but my biological mother was her mother?””
Thomas nodded.
“Yes.””
Malcolm looked at Margaret, who was crying silently.
“Did you know?””
She shook her head.
“I swear to you, I didn't.””
Thomas lowered his eyes.
“Daniel told her that Eleanor had died before you were born. He said the hospital needed a temporary guardian. By the time Margaret learned the truth, Daniel had arranged everything.””
Malcolm's voice became a whisper.
“So Rebecca wasn't just my half sister.””
“No,” Thomas said.
“She was also the only person who knew the truth about your birth.””
Malcolm turned toward the blue Bible.
His entire childhood had been built around a secret so enormous that even his mother had been kept in the dark.
He opened the cover.
Inside was a folded document and a small key.
The document was a handwritten statement signed by Eleanor Price.
It confirmed that Malcolm's birth record had been altered and that Daniel had paid her to conceal the original identity of his parents.
But the key was attached to a separate note.
For the safety of both children, the final evidence is kept in a second location. If Daniel is gone and Malcolm has returned, give him the key.
Thomas watched Malcolm read it.
“What's the second location?”” Malcolm asked.
Thomas's expression darkened.
“An abandoned medical records archive beneath the hospital where you were born.””
“Why would evidence be hidden there?””
“Because Daniel couldn't destroy the records without exposing what he had done.””
Malcolm closed his hand around the key.
May you like
Then Thomas said something that made the room go cold.
“Rebecca went there the night before she died.””
