Chapter 8 - THE SECOND VOICE IN THE WALL.
The tapping came from deeper inside the cavity than before.
Claire returned to the bedroom with Ethan, Ranger, Anna, and Mrs. Harper.
Victoria and Julian followed under the supervision of estate security.
Ranger ignored the first opening and scratched at a lower section near the headboard.
Claire studied the construction.
Miguel’s map showed no passage there.
She removed a brass outlet plate and found a second hollow channel running horizontally toward the east wing.
Inside was a copper speaking tube from the mansion’s original design.
Before telephones, servants used the tubes to receive orders from family bedrooms.
The Blackwoods had sealed the system decades earlier.
Someone had reactivated it.
Ethan placed his ear near the opening.
A man’s weak voice repeated three words:
“Open the greenhouse.”
Victoria stepped backward.
Ethan recognized the voice as his father, Charles Blackwood.
The family had buried Charles four years earlier after a reported heart attack.
The funeral used a closed casket.
Victoria said grief was making Ethan hear things.
Ranger barked directly into the tube.
A distant dog whistle answered.
Charles had trained Ranger before his official death.
The response used a command only he knew.
Julian looked terrified.
Sloan attempted to explain that old pipes could carry radio sounds.
Claire traced the copper line through the wall plans.
It ended beneath the abandoned greenhouse behind the mansion.
Victoria ordered security not to open it.
She claimed the structure was unsafe.
Mrs. Harper asked why the greenhouse electricity bill showed continuous power use.
Anna found monthly grocery deliveries charged to a foundation account and marked “horticultural supplies.”
Someone had been receiving food there.
Ethan demanded the greenhouse key.
Victoria said it had been lost.
Ranger walked to her, sniffed her burgundy handbag, and sat.
Inside the bag was an antique iron key.
Victoria insisted she carried it by accident.
Claire took it from her.
“Accidents keep happening in ways that protect you.”
They crossed the moonlit garden.
The greenhouse door opened onto rows of dead plants and white dust sheets.
At the back stood a locked service elevator descending beneath the property.
May you like
A fresh cup of tea rested beside the controls.
It had the same thin gold rim as Ethan’s morning cup.
