Chapter 3 - Dashiell’s Brother Was in the BasementDashiell played the video again.
Then again.
The voice did not change.
Calder.
His older brother by three years.
The man who had stood beside Dashiell at Elowen’s funeral.
The man who brought casseroles when Dashiell forgot to eat.
The man who helped choose Maisy’s first therapist after the accident.
Calder.
On the recording, Roxanne held Elowen’s photograph.
“She was supposed to take the secret to her grave.”
Calder answered:
“Maybe she did.”
Roxanne:
“Then why can’t we find the letter?”
Calder:
“Because maybe there isn’t one.”
Roxanne laughed bitterly.
“You didn’t know Elowen.”
“I knew her well enough.”
Dashiell’s jaw tightened.
What did that mean?
Roxanne continued:
“She never trusted me.”
“Can you blame her?”
Roxanne stepped closer to Calder.
“Careful.”
Calder lowered his voice.
“I’m tired of this.”
“Then find it.”
“Dashiell is going to notice.”
“He notices nothing.”
The words hit Dashiell like a slap.
Because recently?
She was right.
He had missed everything.
The clip ended.
Kiara lowered the phone.
Dashiell stared at the pavement.
“How long has Calder been coming over?”
“I saw him twice.”
“Did Roxanne know you saw?”
“No.”
“Maisy?”
Kiara glanced toward the SUV.
“I don’t think so.”
Dashiell immediately called Calder.
Kiara grabbed his wrist.
“Don’t.”
He looked at her.
“You’re telling me not to call my own brother?”
“If Roxanne knows I recorded them, she’ll know the other videos exist.”
“So?”
“So she may destroy whatever she is searching for.”
Dashiell pulled his hand away.
“You sound like you know more than you’re saying.”
Kiara’s face tightened.
“I know enough to be scared.”
“Of Roxanne?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Kiara glanced toward Maisy.
Then lowered her voice.
“Because I confronted her once.”
Dashiell stared.
“When?”
“Six weeks ago.”
“About Maisy?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“I heard Maisy crying in the laundry room.”
Dashiell’s expression hardened.
“Why was she there?”
“Roxanne said Maisy had broken a glass and needed to sit somewhere quiet.”
“Locked?”
Kiara looked away.
“Kiara.”
“Yes.”
Dashiell felt rage rise again.
“You left my daughter locked in a room?”
“No.”
“I opened it immediately.”
“Then what?”
“Roxanne found me.”
Kiara rubbed her wrist unconsciously.
“She told me I was an employee and had no right to interfere with family discipline.”
“And you stayed?”
“I needed this job.”
The shame on her face was immediate.
Dashiell exhaled.
Kiara continued quickly:
“That’s not an excuse.”
“No.”
“I know.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“She said you already knew.”
Dashiell froze.
“What?”
“She said you agreed Maisy needed stricter discipline.”
“I never said that.”
“I know now.”
“What else?”
Kiara hesitated.
“She showed me messages.”
Dashiell stared.
“What messages?”
“From your number.”
His stomach dropped.
“What did they say?”
Kiara took out screenshots.
One appeared to be from Dashiell.
Maisy has been acting out. If Roxanne needs to be firm, stay out of it.
Another:
Don’t undermine her in front of Maisy.
Dashiell shook his head.
“I never sent these.”
“I checked later.”
“How?”
“I noticed the timestamps.”
Dashiell looked.
One message was supposedly sent at 2:12 p.m. on a Tuesday.
He had been presenting to twelve executives then.
His phone had been connected to the conference-room projector.
Another was sent while he was flying to Denver.
No Wi-Fi.
“They’re fake.”
“Yes.”
“How did she make them?”
“I don’t know.”
Dashiell thought about Roxanne’s access.
She knew his phone passcode once.
Before he changed it.
She often used the family computer.
Maybe she had created fake screenshots.
Maybe she had even sent texts from his phone and deleted them.
“How long did you believe them?”
“Three weeks.”
Dashiell’s anger softened just enough to let logic return.
“So you thought I knew.”
Kiara nodded.
“And then?”
“Maisy told me something.”
“What?”
Kiara glanced toward the SUV again.
“She said Roxanne always got meaner when you were away.”
Dashiell closed his eyes.
He traveled frequently.
Construction development.
Property acquisition.
Regional meetings.
Roxanne had encouraged it.
Maisy is fine. Go. Work. I’ve got her.
He had believed her.
Kiara continued:
“So I started recording.”
“Why not call police?”
“I didn’t have enough.”
“You had a child locked in a room.”
“I unlocked her.”
Kiara’s eyes filled.
“I thought if I made an accusation and Roxanne convinced you I was lying, you’d fire me.”
Dashiell stared.
“And then nobody would be watching Maisy.”
That answer stopped him.
Kiara had not been brave immediately.
But she had thought strategically.
And perhaps that mattered more than dramatic courage.
“Why today?”
“Because of the bathroom.”
“What was different?”
“She mentioned Elowen.”
Dashiell waited.
Kiara lowered her voice.
“And because Roxanne told me this morning that Friday would be my last day.”
“You’re fired?”
“She said the family doesn’t need me anymore.”
Dashiell felt cold.
Roxanne was removing the witness.
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Did she say why?”
“She said Maisy is old enough to be more independent.”
Dashiell looked toward his daughter.
Eight.
Independent enough to be left alone with Roxanne.
He understood.
Kiara continued:
“I knew if I left, there would be nobody watching.”
Dashiell nodded slowly.
Then his phone rang.
Calder.
He stared at the screen.
Kiara whispered:
“Don’t answer.”
Dashiell didn’t.
The call stopped.
Then a text came.
Roxanne says you’re acting strange. Everything okay?
Dashiell looked at Kiara.
“She already called him.”
“Probably.”
Another text.
Call me before you go home. It’s important.
Dashiell typed nothing.
Then Maisy knocked on the car window.
“Daddy?”
He opened the door.
“What is it?”
Maisy held up Kiara’s tablet.
“There’s a picture of Mommy.”
Dashiell frowned.
“What?”
Maisy turned the screen.
Kiara had accidentally left the gallery open.
The thumbnail from the fourth video showed Elowen’s photograph.
Maisy pointed.
“That’s the picture Aunt Roxanne keeps under her bed.”
Dashiell’s pulse shifted.
“What?”
Maisy nodded.
“She has a box.”
“What kind?”
“A red box.”
Dashiell crouched.
“What’s inside?”
“I don’t know.”
“Have you seen it?”
“Once.”
“When?”
Maisy thought.
“Grandma’s birthday.”
Roxanne wasn’t Maisy’s grandmother, but she had been around long enough that Maisy occasionally used the title.
“What did you see?”
Maisy frowned.
“Letters.”
Dashiell’s heart began pounding.
“How many?”
“A lot.”
“Did you read any?”
“No.”
Then Maisy remembered something.
“One had Mommy’s name.”
Dashiell went still.
Roxanne had been searching his house for Elowen’s letter.
But she already possessed a box full of letters.
May you like
Which meant the letter she feared was different.
And if Calder was helping her find it, Dashiell needed to know why before either of them realized the secret had started unraveling.
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