Chapter 3 - SOMEONE BUILT A SECOND WALL
Rebecca Sloan arrived less than an hour later.
She had designed luxury homes throughout Southern California for nearly two decades and remembered the Cole estate renovation clearly.
She stood several feet from the damaged panel while Daniel explained what had happened.
Vanessa was not in the gallery.
Daniel had ordered her to remain in the east sitting room while he dealt with what he described as a potential structural and safety issue.
She had argued.
He had finally told her that if she entered the gallery again, estate security would escort her outside.
That ended it.
Rebecca studied the tear without touching it.
“That cavity shouldn’t be there.”
Daniel folded his arms.
“You’re certain?”
“I have the original drawings.”
She pointed toward the wall.
“The silk panels were installed over shallow backing. There should be less than three inches behind them.”
Daniel looked at the darkness visible through the opening.
“That’s more than three inches.”
“Much more.”
Rebecca measured the interior wall.
Then she walked into the adjoining hallway and measured the same section from the opposite side.
When she returned, her face had changed.
“Someone built a false wall.”
Daniel stared at her.
“When?”
“After my project was finished.”
“Could Vanessa have arranged it without telling me?”
Rebecca considered the question.
“Yes. If someone classified it as custom interior millwork, it could have been done without major permitting.”
Daniel immediately understood how.
Three years earlier, he had been expanding his investment business in Los Angeles.
Vanessa had taken over almost every household design decision.
Daniel approved budgets.
Signed invoices.
Rarely inspected the finished work.
He had assumed the estate’s ownership structure protected him from major decisions being made without his knowledge.
But the coastal property belonged to a family trust.
A concealed cabinet inside a wall did not change ownership.
It was simply a household expense.
And Vanessa had broad authority over household spending.
Rebecca contacted a contractor she trusted.
Daniel also called his attorney, Melissa Grant.
He did not call the police and start tearing walls apart.
Melissa advised him to document everything first.
Whatever was inside might become relevant to a family, civil, or financial dispute.
So Rebecca photographed the tear.
The dimensions were recorded.
The contractor removed only enough material to expose the hidden access door.
The blonde strands were not attached to a person.
They were caught around a brass hinge.
Long human hair.
Rebecca noticed something transparent stuck near the strands.
Hair-extension adhesive.
Someone wearing blonde extensions had apparently leaned into the concealed opening and pulled away hard enough to leave several strands behind.
The compartment itself was narrow.
Inside sat three objects.
A blue document folder.
A black external hard drive.
And a padded jewelry case.
Daniel’s expression changed the moment he saw the case.
He recognized it.
It had belonged to Caroline.
His first wife.
Ethan and Lucy’s mother.
May you like
Caroline had died four years earlier.
And Daniel had believed that jewelry case had disappeared during the chaos after her death.
