Chapter 7: Secrets in the Safe
While the deputies cordoned off the muddy trail with yellow police tape, Julian walked back toward the brightly lit barn, his steps heavy and mechanical. The contrast between the festive interior and the grim reality outside was sickening. Inside, the guests had gathered near the gift table, murmuring nervously among themselves, the music completely turned off. Clara rushed toward him the moment he stepped through the doors, her eyes wide with desperate questions.
"What did they find, Julian? Was it her?" Clara asked, grabbing his wet lapels, staining her white lace with mud and rainwater.
"There was blood, Clara," Julian said flatly, his voice devoid of emotion as he stared blankly past her shoulder. "A struggle. Someone dragged her toward the woods."
Martha gasped, pressing a hand to her mouth in horror, while several wedding guests overheard the exchange and began whispering frantically. The illusion of safety had been shattered completely.
Julian pulled out his phone, his mind racing through practical logistics. If Evelyn had been abducted, the police would need access to her home, her computer, and her personal records to figure out who might want to harm her. "I need to go to her house," Julian said resolutely. "Her laptop, her financial files—maybe there's something there. A threat, a dispute, anything that explains why someone would target her tonight."
"You can't drive like that, Julian," Clara protested, glancing down at his ruined suit and mud-caked shoes. "Let the police handle the investigation."
"The police are searching the woods, Clara. They don't have her house keys," Julian replied, turning toward the exit. "I do. I’ll be back as soon as I can."
Driving through the torrential downpour, Julian navigated the winding country roads on autopilot, his knuckles white on the steering wheel. Twenty minutes later, he pulled into the driveway of his mother’s quiet suburban home. The house was completely dark, casting a lonely silhouette against the stormy sky. He unlocked the front door and stepped inside, the familiar scent of lavender and old paper washing over him in the silence.
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He flicked on the hallway light and walked straight to Evelyn’s second-floor study. Her desk was neat, papers stacked in orderly piles. He opened her laptop, but it required a password he didn't know. Frustrated, he noticed a small wall safe half-hidden behind a landscape painting near the bookshelf. He remembered the combination from childhood—her birthday.
Julian dialed the numbers and pulled the heavy steel door open. Inside wasn't money or jewelry, but a thick manila folder labeled with a name he had never heard before: Arthur Vance. A cold sweat broke out across Julian’s neck as he pulled the documents out, revealing decades-old legal notices, police reports, and a photograph of a man who looked shockingly familiar.
