Chapter 5 - Harrison Had Hidden the Key From EveryoneMalcolm didn't ask Harrison where the key was over the phone.
He had learned enough in one night to stop broadcasting information.
"Is it with you?"
"No."
"Where?"
Harrison hesitated.
Malcolm softened his voice.
"Buddy, you're not in trouble."
"I know."
"Then tell me."
"I hid it."
"Where?"
"At home."
Malcolm closed his eyes.
Of course.
The one place he no longer trusted.
"Can anyone find it?"
"I don't think so."
"Don't tell me where yet."
Harrison sounded confused.
"Why?"
"Because we're going to talk in person."
"Okay."
Malcolm looked at Cordelia.
She nodded approvingly.
"What did Grandpa say when he gave you the puzzle book?"
Harrison thought.
"He said grown-ups sometimes lose things because they look in grown-up places."
Frederick.
Always with riddles.
"Anything else?"
"He said if anybody asked, it was just puzzles."
"Did anyone ask?"
"Uncle Declan."
Malcolm froze.
"When?"
"A long time ago."
"How long?"
"After Grandpa died."
"What did he say?"
"He asked if Grandpa gave me a notebook."
Malcolm felt cold.
"What did you tell him?"
"No."
"Was that true?"
Harrison sounded guilty.
"I forgot about the book."
That might have saved him.
"Did Aunt Cassandra ask?"
"No."
"Grandma?"
Frederick's wife had died years earlier.
"No."
"Anyone else?"
"Mr. Keene."
Malcolm gripped the phone.
"Walter asked you?"
"At Grandpa's funeral."
"What exactly?"
"He said Grandpa sometimes wrote things down and asked if I'd seen any notebooks."
Malcolm looked at Cordelia.
Her face hardened.
"Buddy, you did great."
"I didn't do anything."
"Exactly."
He told Harrison to sleep.
Then ended the call.
Cordelia whispered:
"Walter."
"Yes."
"At the funeral."
"Yes."
She closed her eyes.
Malcolm called Julian Morse, his new independent attorney.
It was nearly three in the morning.
Julian answered anyway.
Malcolm explained enough.
Forged trust documents.
Secret ledger.
Family attorney asking a child about notebooks.
Julian listened.
Then:
"Do not confront Keene."
"I wasn't planning to."
"Good."
"What can we do?"
"First, preserve everything. Second, obtain certified copies of every trust instrument filed after Frederick's death."
"Walter has those."
"No."
Julian's tone sharpened.
"Do not request them from Walter. We obtain them from trustees, banks, and court filings."
"Why?"
"Because if he's involved, you don't ask a suspect which documents exist."
Malcolm looked at Cordelia.
"Can the trust structure be changed with forged signatures?"
"In theory, documents can be falsified. Whether they become effective depends on verification, notarization, trustees, and counterparties."
"Could someone have done it?"
"You're telling me your father believed they did."
"Yes."
"Then we find out."
Julian paused.
"There's another issue."
"What?"
"Your son."
Malcolm's stomach tightened.
"What about him?"
"If someone already searched his room for this ledger, he stays away from the main house until we understand who has access."
"Agreed."
"And do not question him aggressively about the key."
"I wouldn't."
"I'm not saying because you're a bad father. I'm saying because he's a ten-year-old who has already been frightened. Let investigators handle anything connected to a crime."
Malcolm nodded despite being on the phone.
"Understood."
By sunrise, Cordelia was discharged.
Malcolm did not take her home.
He arranged a hotel suite under Julian's name.
Then he drove to Ethan's house.
Harrison was awake.
He ran into Malcolm's arms.
"Is Cordelia okay?"
"Yes."
"Was she trying to hurt me?"
Malcolm crouched.
"No."
Relief flooded Harrison's face.
"I didn't think so."
Malcolm smiled faintly.
"Why?"
"She was yelling, 'Don't touch them.'"
"The pills?"
"Yeah."
"Then why did you scream?"
Harrison looked embarrassed.
"Because she fell on me."
Malcolm almost laughed from relief.
"What happened before that?"
"I opened the bottle."
"Why?"
"I thought maybe the charger was under it."
"And the pills spilled."
"Yeah. Then Cordelia came in and grabbed my wrist."
"Then?"
"She looked weird."
"Weird how?"
"Like she was sleepy."
Malcolm thought of the substance found in her system.
"Did she eat or drink anything?"
Harrison thought.
"Tea."
"Who made it?"
"She did."
"Did anyone touch it?"
"I don't know."
"Anyone visit the kitchen?"
"Uncle Declan."
Malcolm's entire body stilled.
"When was Declan at the house?"
"This afternoon."
"Before I got home?"
"Yeah."
Nobody had mentioned that.
Cordelia hadn't remembered.
"Why was he there?"
"He said he forgot some papers."
"What papers?"
"I don't know."
"Did he go upstairs?"
Harrison nodded.
"To Grandpa's study?"
"No."
"My room?"
Harrison thought.
"Maybe."
Malcolm felt anger rise.
"What does maybe mean?"
"I was playing outside."
"How do you know he might've been in your room?"
"Because when I came back, he was upstairs."
Malcolm stood.
The ledger disappeared.
Declan had been inside.
Then somehow knew there was an emergency before Malcolm called anyone.
Coincidence was becoming difficult to defend.
Harrison looked up.
"Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"The key."
Malcolm crouched again.
"Right."
"Do you want it?"
"Yes."
"It's in the house."
"We'll get it later."
Harrison shook his head.
"You don't have to."
"What?"
"I can tell you where."
Malcolm waited.
Harrison smiled slightly.
"Grandpa told me grown-ups don't look in kid places."
Malcolm almost smiled too.
"Apparently Grandpa loved that theory."
"I put it somewhere Uncle Declan hates."
"Where?"
Harrison leaned closer.
"In my hamster cage."
Malcolm blinked.
"You have a dead hamster cage in the garage."
"I know."
"Inside?"
"Under the bottom."
Malcolm stared at his son.
Then laughed for the first time since entering the living room.
Frederick had chosen his student well.
But Harrison's expression became serious.
"There's something else."
"What?"
"When Uncle Declan came yesterday, he asked me where Mr. Pickles was buried."
Malcolm stopped smiling.
Mr. Pickles had been Harrison's hamster.
Dead for almost a year.
"Why would he ask that?"
Harrison shrugged.
"He said he wanted to help me clean the old cage."
Malcolm's blood went cold.
May you like
Declan wasn't guessing randomly anymore.
He was getting closer.
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