Chapter 10: The Secret in the Floorboards**
Julian immediately ordered a forensic inspection of the mansion’s historical architectural schematics. Blackwood Manor had been built during the Gilded Age, complete with service tunnels, dumbwaiters, and hidden passages once used by prohibition-era bootleggers.
Accompanied by a private investigator, Julian went down to the manor’s sub-basement. Behind the antique wine cellar, they found a padlocked steel storage locker belonging to the recently fired estate contractor, Thomas Griggs—a man Evelyn had personally brought onto the payroll six months prior.
With the sheriff’s deputy present, they cut the lock.
Inside the locker were detailed blueprints of the Vance residence, with specific hollow walls and acoustic dead zones highlighted in red marker. Alongside the plans were several micro-surveillance cameras, recording devices, and a ledger documenting cash payments totaling fifty thousand dollars, signed directly from an offshore Sterling subsidiary account.
“She wasn't just hiding him,” the investigator observed, examining the audio feeds. “She was recording his distress calls. She wanted audio proof of his mental breakdowns to submit to the psychiatric board.”
Julian gripped the edge of the workbench, his knuckles turning white. The cold, premeditated cruelty took his breath away. Evelyn hadn't acted in a fit of temper; she had engineered a psychological prison within his own home, complete with contractor modifications and surveillance.
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“Make copies of every single ledger, tape, and blueprint,” Julian commanded the deputy. “Take the originals straight to the District Attorney’s office. Let’s see Richard Sterling buy his daughter’s way out of this.”
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