CHAPTER 2 — A Murder Hidden Behind a Funeral
Emily's voice shook as she continued reading.
"'My doctors never believed I suffered a natural heart attack. I did not either.'"
The library became so quiet that even the old grandfather clock seemed unbearably loud.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Emily looked around.
Her Uncle Richard suddenly refused to make eye contact.
Her Aunt Victoria gripped the edge of the table so tightly her knuckles turned white.
The letter continued.
"'For years I pretended not to notice missing documents... forged signatures... and money disappearing from my accounts.'"
Gasps echoed through the room.
"What is this?" Richard shouted.
"She's manipulating everyone—even after death!"
The attorney interrupted him immediately.
"No one interrupts the reading."
Emily swallowed hard.
"'If Richard is angry while this letter is being read... then I was right to suspect him.'"
Richard's face turned ghost white.
"That's a lie!"
He lunged toward Emily.
Two security guards stepped between them.
The atmosphere turned explosive.
Emily continued.
"'There is another letter hidden beneath the false bottom of this chest. It contains the name of the person who tried to poison me... along with evidence that cannot be destroyed.'"
Everyone stared at the wooden chest.
The attorney slowly removed the photographs.
Then the watch.
Then the letters.
Finally...
He pressed gently on the bottom panel.
Click.
A hidden compartment opened.
Inside lay a thick envelope.
A flash drive.
And several medical reports stamped CONFIDENTIAL.
Richard suddenly bolted toward the exit.
"Stop him!" someone screamed.
But before security could react...
The mansion lights went out.
Darkness swallowed the entire room.
People screamed.
Glass shattered somewhere upstairs.
When the emergency lights finally flickered back on thirty seconds later...
Richard was gone.
So was the hidden envelope.
Only the flash drive remained.
Emily picked it up with trembling hands.
On its label, written by her grandmother herself, were six terrifying words:
"Play this only after midnight."
Emily looked toward the massive grandfather clock.
It read...
May you like
11:58 PM.
Just two minutes remained before the truth that could destroy the entire Blackwood family would finally come to light.
