Chapter 8 - The Tape in the Deck
Lily reached out and pressed the mechanical "PLAY" button on the tape recorder sitting beside the journal. The magnetic tape spun with a soft, rhythmic hiss before a warm, familiar female voice filled the quiet room—the voice of her late mother, Eleanor Carrington.
"If you are listening to this, Ethan," her mother's recorded voice said softly, "then I am no longer there to protect our daughter. And Claire has likely already made her move to take my place."
Lily sat on the heavy leather chair, her feet dangling inches above the floor as she listened to her mother's voice echo in the dark. The recording detailed how Claire had systematically poisoned Eleanor's medical treatments over a two-year period, subtly altering her dosages to induce a fatal heart condition that would leave the Carrington fortune open for the taking.
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Eleanor’s recorded voice explained that she had discovered the tampering too late to save her own life, but she had managed to gather every piece of physical evidence—pharmaceutical receipts, bank transfers, and private emails—and locked them inside Room 17 of the west wing.
"She will look for the key, Ethan," Eleanor’s voice continued, her tone filled with desperate urgency. "She knows Room 17 contains her death warrant. I have hidden the key inside Lily's old teddy bear—the one thing Claire would never think to examine closely."
