Chapter 5 - The Vanishing Evidence
By midnight, a heavy summer thunderstorm had rolled in over the coastal town, lashing rain against the tall glass windows of the Sterling mansion.
Ethan returned home briefly to gather clothes for Lily and Noah. The mansion was dark and silent, the air heavy with the lingering tension of the afternoon’s tragedy.
He walked out into the courtyard under an umbrella, flash-light in hand, intending to examine the spot where Lily had fallen before police investigators arrived the next morning.
The rain was washing away the chalk marks left by the initial first responders. Ethan knelt near the pool edge, shining the bright beam of light over the cream paving.
Near the base of the stone wall, beneath the second-floor balcony, his flashlight caught something reflecting in the wet grass.
Ethan reached down and picked up a small, heavy object. It was a brass key attached to a leather tab—the key to the balcony’s glass safety doors, which were supposed to remain locked at all times when children were present.
Ethan frowned. He had personally locked those doors that morning and hidden the key inside his locked study on the ground floor.
He held the wet key in his palm, his mind racing. If the key was down here in the grass, it meant someone had intentionally unlocked the balcony doors from the inside before the fall occurred.
“Looking for this, Dad?” a quiet voice asked from the covered patio behind him.
Ethan turned sharply. Noah was standing in the doorway, dressed in his pajamas, holding a glass of warm milk.
“Noah? Why aren't you asleep?” Ethan asked, standing up and slipping the key into his pocket.
“I heard the rain,” Noah said smoothly, taking a sip of milk. “I saw Grandma in your study this morning before lunch. She was looking through your desk drawers.”
May you like
Ethan’s chest tightened. “Your grandmother was in my study?”
Noah nodded innocently, his big blue eyes wide. “She took a key from your wooden box. I asked her what it was for, but she just made a shushing face at me and walked upstairs.”
