Chapter 5 - Anna’s Mother
Anna’s mother was Rosa Reyes.
Housekeeper at Bennett mansion from 1996 to 2001.
Victor remembered her.
Quiet.
Dependable.
Then disappeared after husband became ill.
Anna had been three when Elena died.
Why never mention connection?
“My mother made me promise.”
“Why?”
“She said Bennett family had enough ghosts.”
Rosa died six years earlier.
Among belongings she left Anna a sealed letter:
If you ever work for Victor Bennett, never let a child sit beneath west sunroom pane when awning motor runs.
Victor stared.
That was impossibly specific.
Anna had accepted job four years ago.
She checked window regularly.
No problem.
Then three days before accident she heard clicking from awning frame.
She requested maintenance.
Work order disappeared.
That was why she reacted quickly when line appeared.
Why not tell Victor about mother’s letter?
“It sounded irrational.”
Until now.
Victor asked what happened in 1998.
Anna knew only fragments.
Elena had not died at window.
She died two weeks later after balcony fall.
But Rosa believed both incidents connected.
“What first incident?”
A sunroom pane cracked above Elena.
Exactly like Lily.
No one injured.
Victor stared.
“I don’t remember that.”
“You were traveling.”
Who handled it?
Victor’s late wife Margaret.
And mansion manager:
Thomas Bell.
Thomas died twelve years ago.
Records showed window replaced September 3, 1998.
Elena died September 17.
Two weeks.
Was first break deliberate?
No surviving evidence.
But Rosa’s letter contained line:
Thomas said frame was defective. Margaret told me never to repeat what Elena said she saw outside.
What did Elena see?
Letter did not say.
Then Victor examined old household payroll.
Rosa received $18,000 payment one week after Elena’s death.
Was it hush money?
Anna became defensive.
“My mother said it was severance.”
Records labeled:
EMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE.
Could be legitimate.
Rosa’s husband was undergoing surgery.
Victor remembered approving help for several employees.
No proof payoff.
Then Claire asked:
“Who knew Anna’s mother worked here?”
Victor.
Claire after personnel check.
Daniel.
HR.
And someone recently accessed Rosa’s archived file.
Login:
MARGARET.BENNETT.
Impossible.
Margaret died nine years ago.
Legacy account should be disabled.
Technician traced login device.
A tablet inside mansion.
Found beneath guest-room bed.
On it:
old scanned photograph of Elena.
And scheduled smart-home command.
2:12 p.m.
RETRACT WEST AWNING.
Someone had programmed exact jolt that shattered glass.
User account appeared Margaret’s.
But device fingerprint belonged to Claire’s tablet.
Victor turned.
May you like
Claire whispered:
“My tablet disappeared last week.”
