Chapter 11 - The Unidentified Stain
The observation room fell into an absolute, suffocating hush as the detective’s words hung heavily in the air. Marcus snatched the forensic report off the metal table, his eyes darting rapidly across the printed columns of DNA markers while Katherine stepped closer, her posture instantly tensing.
“What do you mean it doesn’t belong to Julian or Eleanor?” Marcus demanded, his voice sharp with disbelief. “The security logs placed Julian in the archives, and his monogrammed cufflink was found directly beside the victim!”
The junior detective swallowed hard, pointing a trembling finger at the bottom of the lab sheet.
“The cufflink belonged to Julian, yes, and his shoe prints are indeed in the room. But the heavy arterial spray on the victim’s left sleeve matches a third DNA profile—one that isn't currently registered in the Sterling family tree at all.”
Clara stepped forward, the cold blue sapphire resting against her chest feeling suddenly heavier.
“A third person?” Clara whispered, her mind racing back through every memory of the mansion. “There was someone else in the house tonight?”
Katherine’s face went chalk white. For the first time since the ordeal began, the matriarch’s composure fractured, revealing a deep, hidden terror that she had kept buried for decades. She gripped the edge of the table so tightly her knuckles turned translucent.
“No,” Katherine breathed, her voice barely audible. “That’s impossible. We locked those records away thirty years ago.”
Marcus looked up from the report, his legal training battling against the sudden influx of the paranormal-sounding revelation.
“Madam Katherine, please explain what you aren't telling us. If there is another heir, or another player involved in this corporate homicide, we need to know right now before the district attorney files formal charges against Julian and Eleanor.”
Katherine closed her eyes, taking a long, shaky breath as she seemed to age ten years in a matter of seconds.
“Before David—before your father was born, Clara—there was an older brother,” Katherine whispered, her voice cracking slightly. “A boy named Thomas. He was declared dead in a boating accident when he was six years old. But his body was never recovered.”
Clara stared at her grandmother in absolute shock.
“Are you saying Thomas is alive?”
Before Katherine could answer, the wall-mounted television screen in the observation room suddenly flickered on by itself, broadcasting live security footage from the front gates of the Sterling estate. A tall, cloaked figure stood directly before the security camera, slowly lowering a dark hood to reveal a face bearing an unmistakable, haunting resemblance to the Sterling family line.
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And around the stranger's neck hung an identical, flawless blue sapphire necklace.
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