“How touching,” he said. “The devoted nurse receiving mysterious final instructions.”
Evelyn ignored him.
Vivian stepped closer.
“My mother had become emotionally dependent on you. That does not make you part of this family.”
“I never claimed it did.”
“Then collect your belongings.”
Evelyn looked toward the window. Lenora’s warning returned to her.
When they tell you to leave, do not believe that you have lost.
“I would prefer to wait for Mr. Bennett.”
“You do not have a preference here,” Vivian replied.
Adrian opened the cabinet.
Inside were several shelves of music boxes collected from different countries. Some were made of silver, others of painted porcelain or dark polished wood.
He lifted a small walnut box decorated with a brass nightingale.
“What is this doing open?”
Evelyn turned.
“It wasn’t open.”
Adrian reached inside and removed a folded document.
Vivian’s face changed.
“What is that?”
Adrian unfolded it dramatically.
“It appears to be a transfer authorization for shares in Ashbourne Maritime.”
Charles snatched it from his hand.
At the bottom of the document was Lenora’s signature.
The beneficiary line contained Evelyn Reed’s name.
For several seconds, no one spoke.
Evelyn stared at the paper.
“I have never seen that before.”
Charles examined the signature.
“This gives you two percent of the company.”
“I didn’t ask her for anything.”
“Two percent is worth several million dollars,” Vivian said.
“I know nothing about it.”
Adrian continued searching the cabinet.
A moment later, he produced Lenora’s emerald brooch.
Vivian gave a quiet gasp.
“That was kept in the bedroom safe.”
Evelyn felt the blood leave her face.
Adrian held the brooch between two fingers.
“And now it is hidden beside a document giving the nurse a fortune.”
“That cabinet was locked yesterday,” Evelyn said.
“Who had access to the room?” Charles asked.
“Your mother, the housekeeper, the doctor, and me.”
Vivian looked at the security guard standing near the door.
“Search her room.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“No.”
Vivian turned to her.
“No?”
“You may dismiss me, but you will not search my personal belongings without permission.”
“You have apparently been stealing from a dying woman.”
“I did not take that brooch.”
Adrian smiled.
“Of course you didn’t. It simply walked out of the safe and hid itself beside a forged share transfer.”
“The document is forged?” Evelyn asked.
Charles held it toward the window.
“My mother would never give company shares to an employee.”
Evelyn looked from one face to another.
Their outrage seemed rehearsed. Their accusations had arrived too quickly, as though they had been waiting for a reason to remove her.
“You knew something was in that cabinet,” she said.
Adrian’s smile vanished.
Vivian pointed toward the hallway.
“Leave this house immediately.”
“I am waiting for Mr. Bennett.”
“You are leaving before I call the police.”
Charles stepped between them.
“Perhaps we should call them. Fraud, theft, manipulation of a vulnerable patient—”
“No,” Vivian said sharply.
Charles glanced at his sister.
Vivian regained her composure.
“A public scandal would be disrespectful to Mother. We will allow Miss Reed to leave quietly.”
Evelyn finally understood.
They did not want an investigation.
They wanted her gone.
She returned to her small room and packed her belongings into a single leather suitcase. Two guards waited outside the door as though she were a criminal.
The housekeeper, Mrs. Doyle, stood at the end of the corridor. Her eyes were wet, but she was too frightened to speak.
As Evelyn passed, the older woman secretly pressed something into her hand.
It was a tiny brass key.
Evelyn looked at her.
Mrs. Doyle whispered, “She told me to give you this only if they forced you out.”
“What does it open?”
“I don’t know.”
Before Evelyn could ask another question, one of the guards ordered her to continue walking.
Rain had begun to fall when the front doors opened.
Vivian stood beneath the portico, protected from the weather.
“You will not contact the newspapers,” she said.
“I have nothing to tell them.”
“You will not speak publicly about my mother’s condition.”
“I have always respected her privacy.”
“And you will not return to this property.”
Evelyn turned to face her.
“You should spend less time protecting this house from me and more time asking why your nephew knew exactly where to search.”
Adrian emerged behind Vivian.
“Be careful, nurse.”
“Of what?”
“People who accuse this family usually discover that no one believes them.”
Evelyn looked back through the open doors.
For almost a year, Ashbourne House had been her entire world. Now it seemed colder than ever, a beautiful monument built to protect generations of lies.