Chapter 3 - Lily Heard Someone Before the Wall Closed
Daniel did not ask Lily more questions himself.
Police arranged for a child-interview specialist to speak with her after
medical care.
Lily’s account remained simple.
She had been playing hide-and-seek alone while Claire folded clothes
upstairs.
She heard knocking behind the hallway wall.
Then a woman whispered her name.
Lily found a loose section of trim and pushed it.
A narrow panel opened.
She crawled inside.
There was no woman.
Only a small speaker.
A recorded voice told her to look beneath the floorboard.
She found the brass key.
Then the panel shut.
Lily screamed.
Nobody heard at first because Daniel was using power tools in the
adjacent room.
When he began tearing out damaged drywall, he unknowingly opened the
compartment from the other side.
Police examined the hidden space.
The speaker was modern.
So was a small magnetic mechanism attached to the panel.
Someone had recently modified the old room.
Claire sat down.
Daniel looked at her.
“Who knew this room existed?”
“My mother.”
“Who else?”
Claire hesitated.
“My brother.”
Daniel frowned.
“You don’t have a brother.”
Claire looked at him.
“I did.”
Another secret.
His name was Michael.
Claire had been told he died when she was nine.
But Evelyn had never shown Claire a grave.
Never explained the accident clearly.
And before Evelyn died, she told Claire something stranger:
If the wall ever opens, do not trust the first story you hear about
Michael.
May you like
Daniel stared at his wife.
For twelve years of marriage, Claire had never spoken his name.
