Chapter 4 - Behind the BookcaseNaomi wanted to drive straight to Graham’s house.
Claire stopped her.
“If he knows you’re suspicious, he may already be destroying evidence.”
Naomi looked at her phone.
“Then we move faster.”
Rachel brought Maisie to room 814.
The moment Maisie saw Claire, she hid behind her mother.
Claire stayed across the room.
She understood.
Naomi knelt.
“Sweetheart, Aunt Rachel said you saw something at Graham’s house.”
Maisie nodded.
“The secret door.”
“Where?”
“In his work room.”
“What did it look like?”
Maisie thought carefully.
“The big books move.”
Claire and Naomi exchanged a look.
Graham’s home office had built-in shelving along one wall.
Naomi had seen it dozens of times.
“Did Graham show you?”
Maisie shook her head.
“I saw him.”
“When?”
“When you went to get pizza.”
Naomi remembered.
Three weeks earlier.
She had left Maisie with Graham for thirty minutes.
Thirty minutes.
Her stomach twisted.
“What happened?”
“I wanted my bunny.”
Maisie had a stuffed rabbit named Pickles.
“I looked for it.”
“In Graham’s office?”
“He put it there because he said I was being bad.”
Naomi had never heard that.
“Then what?”
“He went through the books.”
“Did he see you?”
“No.”
“What was behind them?”
Maisie looked scared again.
Naomi touched her cheek.
“You don’t have to tell me if you’re frightened.”
“A little room.”
“What was inside?”
“Boxes.”
“Anything else?”
“Pictures.”
Naomi’s chest tightened.
“What kind?”
Maisie shrugged.
“People.”
“Did you go inside?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Maisie suddenly grabbed Naomi’s hand.
“And Daddy.”
Naomi stopped.
“What?”
“There was Daddy.”
The room went silent.
Naomi whispered, “A picture of Daddy?”
Maisie nodded.
“Lots.”
Claire covered her mouth.
Naomi stood.
“We’re calling police.”
Within forty minutes, Detective Lena Torres arrived.
She had been assigned after hotel security reported an alleged assault involving a minor.
Naomi told her everything.
The hallway.
The anonymous messages.
Claire.
The footage.
The hidden room.
Torres listened without interruption.
When Naomi finished, the detective sat back.
“You understand that some of this involves an investigation from three years ago.”
“Yes.”
“I can request that file.”
“Do it.”
“I can also interview Graham.”
“He lies.”
“I expect him to.”
Naomi almost smiled despite herself.
Torres turned to Claire.
“I need a copy of everything.”
“You can have it.”
“What about Graham’s house?” Naomi asked.
“We can’t simply break into it.”
“I have a key.”
Torres shook her head.
“That doesn’t necessarily give you authority to search private areas, especially if you don’t live there.”
Naomi’s frustration rose.
“Then get a warrant.”
“I need probable cause.”
“What part of this isn’t probable cause?”
“Actually, quite a lot may be.”
Torres remained calm.
“But warrants survive court challenges because we do them correctly.”
Naomi forced herself to breathe.
Torres continued.
“If the old footage is authentic and your witness can establish chain of custody, that helps.”
“What about Maisie?”
“I’ll arrange a child-specialist interview. We’re not going to repeatedly question her ourselves.”
That made sense.
Naomi hated that it made sense.
She wanted answers immediately.
But Maisie needed protection more than Naomi needed speed.
Then Naomi’s phone rang.
Graham.
Everyone looked at it.
Torres held out her hand.
“Answer.”
Naomi put it on speaker.
“Hello?”
“Where are you?”
Graham sounded calm.
Too calm.
“With Maisie.”
“I need to talk to you.”
“No.”
“Naomi, the hotel says you had security remove my belongings from the suite.”
“I did.”
“You cannot throw away two years because you’re upset.”
“You lied about Eric.”
Silence.
Then:
“My father had no right to discuss private company matters.”
“You lied to me.”
“I didn’t want our relationship haunted by your dead husband.”
Naomi clenched her jaw.
“Were you with him the night he died?”
“I already answered that.”
“You said you argued.”
“Yes.”
“Did you follow him?”
A pause.
Tiny.
But there.
“Who told you that?”
Naomi looked at Torres.
The detective nodded.
“Did you?”
Graham’s voice changed.
“You’re talking to Claire.”
Claire went pale.
Naomi felt the answer like electricity.
She had never mentioned Claire.
“How do you know?”
Silence.
“Graham?”
No response.
“You just proved you know who’s talking to me.”
“Listen carefully.”
His voice was lower now.
“Claire is unstable.”
Claire laughed bitterly.
Graham heard.
“So she’s there.”
Torres wrote something down.
Naomi said, “Why did you never tell me she was your wife?”
“I made mistakes.”
“You forgot a marriage?”
“She tried to destroy me.”
Claire whispered, “There it is.”
Graham continued.
“She poisoned her son against me.”
Naomi closed her eyes.
Same pattern.
Same language.
“What did you do to Evan?”
“Nothing.”
“And Maisie?”
“Nothing.”
“You struck her.”
“That was an accident.”
“You threatened her.”
Silence.
Naomi leaned toward the phone.
“Did you tell my daughter I would disappear like Eric?”
This time Graham didn’t answer quickly enough.
Torres looked up.
Naomi’s heart pounded.
“Did you?”
Graham finally said, “Children misunderstand things.”
Naomi ended the call.
Torres immediately stood.
“That was useful.”
“For what?”
“For showing consciousness of facts he claims not to know.”
She picked up her phone.
“I’m requesting the old case file and contacting a prosecutor.”
An hour passed.
Then two.
The wedding guests eventually left.
Naomi changed out of her wedding dress in her mother’s suite.
She folded it quietly and placed it across a chair.
She never wanted to see it again.
At 8:17 p.m., Detective Torres returned.
Her expression had changed.
“What?”
Torres closed the door.
“I reviewed the original crash report.”
“And?”
“There was something odd.”
Naomi waited.
“Eric’s car wasn’t just damaged from the collision.”
“What do you mean?”
“There was damage to the rear bumper.”
Naomi frowned.
“From the barrier?”
“No.”
Torres sat across from her.
“The forensic photographs suggest contact with another vehicle occurred before Eric lost control.”
Naomi’s throat tightened.
“Was that investigated?”
“Briefly. They assumed it happened earlier.”
“Why?”
“There was no paint transfer they could identify.”
Claire suddenly spoke.
“What color was Graham’s SUV?”
Naomi knew.
“Black.”
Torres looked through her notes.
“The transfer on Eric’s car was dark gray.”
No one spoke.
Then Torres received a text.
She read it.
“I just heard from the judge.”
Naomi stood.
“We have the warrant.”
Forty minutes later, police entered Graham’s house.
Naomi was not permitted inside during the initial search.
She waited in a patrol car with Rachel while Maisie slept at Naomi’s mother’s house.
Nearly an hour passed.
Then Detective Torres emerged.
She walked toward Naomi slowly.
“What did you find?”
Torres stopped beside the car.
“The hidden room exists.”
Naomi’s heart hammered.
“And?”
“We found photographs of Eric.”
“How many?”
“Dozens.”
Naomi closed her eyes.
Torres continued.
“Financial files. Old company records. Several external hard drives.”
“Anything about the crash?”
“We’re still looking.”
Then the detective hesitated.
Naomi knew instantly there was more.
“What?”
Torres lowered her voice.
“We also found a folder labeled with your daughter’s name.”
Naomi stopped breathing.
“Maisie?”
Torres nodded.
“What’s inside it?”
The detective’s expression darkened.
“Naomi, I think you need to prepare yourself.”
She opened a clear evidence bag.
Inside was a notebook.
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On the cover, written neatly in Graham’s handwriting, were two words:
MAISIE — CORRECTION PLAN
