Chapter 12 - Emma Turns the Tables
Emma reconstructed the previous three weeks.
She remembered which rooms she had entered.
Which doors had been open.
Which staff members were present.
Which nights the coffee service had changed.
The pattern revealed something nobody had noticed.
Gideon never entered the house randomly.
He appeared only when Teresa was away.
And every time, Marco had been assigned to another area.
But one person always remained near the records corridor.
Camille.
Luca confronted her again.
This time, she told the truth.
She had been receiving instructions through handwritten cards.
She never saw the sender.
But she had kept them.
Luca spread the cards across the table.
Emma recognized the paper.
“The kitchen.”
“What?”
“This paper comes from our supply room.”
Teresa looked at Luca.
Someone inside the household had been writing the messages.
They checked the staff.
One person was missing.
A temporary groundskeeper.
His name was Peter Hall.
He had worked at the estate for only two months.
But Emma remembered him.
He always asked about the coffee schedule.
Luca found his room empty.
Inside was a photograph.
Peter stood beside Gideon.
But behind them was another man.
Older.
Familiar.
Teresa stared at the photograph.
Her face drained of color.
“My brother.”
Luca froze.
His uncle had supposedly died fifteen years earlier.
Teresa whispered:
“He didn't die.”
The entire room went silent.
May you like
Emma looked at Luca.
The mystery had just become a family secret far older than any of them expected.
