Chapter 13 - The Coded Sheet Music
The fight was swift and brutal. Julian disarmed the assassin with precise, military violence, pinning the intruder to the floor with a knee on their spine.
"Who sent you?" Julian growled, pulling off the attacker's ski mask to reveal a woman with cold blue eyes and a severe scar across her cheek.
The woman smirked, blood leaking from her lip. "It’s too late, Julian. The Maestro knows the piano is destroyed. He knows the girl has the key."
Before Julian could force more information out of her, the woman bit down hard on her back molar. Within three seconds, her body convulsed violently, and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Cyanide.
"Dammit!" Julian hissed, checking her pulse. Dead.
Anaëlle was trembling against the wall, clutching Clara to her chest. "Julian... what did she mean? What key?"
Julian stood up, wiping blood from his knuckles. He searched the dead assassin’s tactical vest, pulling out a sealed leather pouch. Inside was a piece of yellowed, vintage sheet music.
Anaëlle gasped. "That’s... that’s my mother’s handwriting."
It was an original score of Chopin's Nocturne in C-sharp Minor, the exact piece Anaëlle had played at the estate. But under the room's emergency ultraviolet backup light, hidden faint red lines appeared between the standard musical staves.
"Look," Anaëlle whispered, stepping closer despite her fear. "These aren't standard musical notes. They're micro-coordinates and pitch-frequency variations."
"Your mother didn't just build one acoustic lock into the Steinway at Blackwood Estate," Julian realized, examining the score. "This score is a blueprint for a second twin piano—a custom Imperial Steinway built in 1890."
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"Where is it?" Anaëlle asked.
Julian looked up, his grey eyes burning with sudden clarity. "In Paris. At the private estate of Victor Sterling—the global billionaire who funds the entire syndicate."
