Chapter 7 - Malcolm Vale Comes Home
Malcolm Vale arrived at Greyhaven before noon the next day.
He did not sneak.
He came in a black sedan, wearing a camel-colored coat, and rang the front bell as though invited.
Evelyn saw him through the window.
For one second she became completely still.
Then she said, “Arthur goes upstairs.”
Arthur bristled.
“I’m done hiding.”
“You can be done after we know why Malcolm is here.”
Lena agreed.
That settled it.
Arthur disappeared through the library passage.
Nathan opened the front door.
Malcolm Vale was seventy-one, silver-haired and elegant, with the calm confidence of someone used to being welcomed wherever he went.
“Nathan.”
“Malcolm.”
“I heard there was trouble at South Harbor yesterday.”
News traveled quickly in small coastal towns.
Too quickly.
Malcolm entered before being invited.
His eyes moved across the hall.
They paused on Lena.
“You must be Lena.”
She disliked that he knew.
“We’ve met.”
“When you were little.”
“You sent flowers when my grandfather died.”
A beat.
“I did.”
“Generous.”
Nathan gave her a warning look.
Malcolm smiled.
“I hear Evelyn is finally considering selling Greyhaven.”
Evelyn appeared from the dining room.
“I’m considering many things.”
Malcolm kissed her cheek.
She endured it.
“I’d like to buy the property,” he said.
“No.”
“You haven’t heard my offer.”
“I don’t need to.”
Malcolm glanced toward the staircase.
“Large houses become burdens.”
Lena watched his eyes.
He was not looking at the house like a buyer.
He was looking for something.
“What happened at South Harbor?” he asked.
Nathan crossed his arms.
“Why?”
“I own adjacent property. Police activity affects everyone.”
Lena said, “Someone locked us in the old locker wing.”
Malcolm showed concern beautifully.
“My God.”
“And used a smoke device.”
“Were you hurt?”
“No.”
“Thank goodness.”
Lena took out her shattered phone.
Malcolm’s eyes flicked toward it.
Only for a fraction of a second.
But she saw.
She opened the photograph.
“Strange thing happened here too.”
Nathan stared at her.
Lena ignored him.
She held the screen toward Malcolm.
“Recognize him?”
For the first time, Malcolm’s performance failed.
His pupils widened.
Then the expression vanished.
“I’m afraid the screen is too damaged.”
“You saw him.”
“I saw a reflection.”
“Whose?”
Malcolm handed the phone back.
“A trick of light.”
Evelyn stepped closer.
“You should leave.”
Malcolm buttoned his coat.
“If you change your mind about the house, my offer will remain open.”
As he reached the door, a floorboard creaked upstairs.
Malcolm stopped.
Nobody breathed.
Another creak.
Then silence.
Malcolm looked at Evelyn.
“You should have those old floors repaired.”
Evelyn opened the door.
“Goodbye, Malcolm.”
He left.
Lena watched from the side window as the sedan disappeared.
“He knows.”
Nathan nodded.
“Yes.”
Arthur emerged.
“He knew before he walked in.”
Evelyn turned toward him.
“How can you be sure?”
Arthur held up his phone.
A message had arrived while Malcolm stood downstairs.
No number.
Just a photograph.
It showed Malcolm’s car parked outside Greyhaven.
The picture had been taken from somewhere inside the house.
Beneath it:
YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED DEAD.
Nathan immediately checked every room.
Lena searched the upper floor with Arthur.
No intruder.
No open window.
Then Lena remembered something.
“The north passage.”
Arthur’s face changed.
They entered behind the linen closet.
Halfway through the narrow corridor, Arthur stopped.
A small object lay on the floor.
A wireless camera.
Its indicator light still blinked.
Nathan joined them.
Arthur picked it up carefully with a handkerchief.
“Someone installed this recently.”
“How recently?” Lena asked.
“No dust.”
They followed the passage down toward the old kitchen wall.
At the final turn they discovered another door.
Arthur stared at it.
“I didn’t know this existed.”
Evelyn did.
Lena saw it immediately.
“Grandma?”
Evelyn looked cornered.
“That goes to the cellar.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Who else knows about these passages?”
Evelyn did not answer.
Nathan stepped forward.
“Mother.”
She closed her eyes.
“There was someone who helped me maintain them.”
“Who?”
“Samuel Pike.”
Arthur frowned.
“The old caretaker?”
“He never left.”
Nathan stared.
“Sam Pike moved to Vermont.”
“That’s what I told people.”
Lena almost laughed.
Another dead or vanished man.
Another lie.
Evelyn continued.
“Sam knew Arthur survived. He brought supplies. Managed repairs. Watched the property when I traveled.”
“When did you last see him?” Arthur asked.
“Three weeks ago.”
“Where is he now?”
“I don’t know.”
Arthur looked at the camera.
Lena asked, “Could Sam have installed this?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“He would never.”
Nathan said, “You don’t know what anyone would never do.”
That sentence silenced the room.
Lena crouched near the hidden cellar door.
Something had been scratched into the wood.
Three characters.
H17.
Harbor 17.
She looked over her shoulder.
“Someone wants us to find whatever was under that warehouse.”
Arthur’s face tightened.
“No.”
Lena stood.
“Why?”
“Because if Malcolm is leading us there, it’s a trap.”
“Or someone else is trying to lead us there before Malcolm gets there first.”
Arthur stared at her.
Lena held up Rachel’s notebook.
“My mother found the same clue six years ago.”
That changed his expression.
“She never told me.”
“Maybe because she stopped trusting you.”
The words hurt him.
Lena did not take them back.
Outside, an engine started.
Nathan ran to the window.
At the far end of the property, a gray pickup truck pulled away from the abandoned gardener’s cottage.
Evelyn whispered, “That’s Sam’s truck.”
Arthur headed for the door.
May you like
But Lena was already running.
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