Chapter 5 - THE UNSEEN VAULTThe police secured the perimeter, and forensic investigators swarmed the Coyoacán estate. Dr. Mendoza had dispatched a specialized medical transport to bring my mother directly to a secure, private wing at Médica Sur, guarded round-the-clock by federal protection.
With the immediate threat neutralized, I stood in the center of the master study alongside the lead investigator, Captain Silva, and a representative from the National Registry of Historic Properties.
"Mr. Ruiz," Captain Silva said, shining his flashlight toward the corner of the room. "Your mother’s testimony and the hidden medical records gave us enough to warrant an emergency seizure warrant for the entire Mendoza conglomerate. But we still need the primary asset verification."
I pulled the small brass key from my pocket.
"This fits somewhere in this room," I said.
I knelt beside the rotted baseboard beneath the grand marble fireplace. According to my mother’s final instructions before the police medicated her for rest, my father had engineered a mechanical sliding panel using a counterweight system tied to the chimney flue.
I pressed my fingers against the carved stone tiles.
Click.
With a deep, resonant rumble that shook the dust off the ceiling beams, a section of the stone wall slid inward, revealing a dark, steel-reinforced vault built directly into the foundation.
Captain Silva stepped forward, his flashlight cutting through the darkness of the open compartment.
Inside sat a heavy, fireproof iron lockbox embossed with the family crest of the original Mendoza architects.
May you like
I inserted the brass key. It turned with a smooth, satisfying mechanical click.
I lifted the heavy lid.
