Chapter 23 - The Discovery in the Cellar**
Four hours later, Detective Jenkins called back, her voice echoing through the phone speaker with high-pitched intensity.
"Ethan, you need to see this immediately," Jenkins said, sending a series of high-resolution photos to his device.
The photos showed a heavy iron vault door embedded deep within the concrete floor of the old wine cellar.
The antique brass keyhole on the iron door matched the key Ethan held in his hand in Maine.
"What's inside the vault, Jenkins?" Ethan asked, his knuckles turning white around his phone.
"We haven't opened it yet; federal protocol requires the keyholder to be present for sovereign estate vaults," Jenkins explained.
"We also found something else near the basement entrance, Ethan," she added, her voice dropping into a tense whisper.
"What did you find?"
"Fresh tire tracks from a commercial van... made less than six hours ago," Jenkins dropped the disturbing detail.
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Someone else knew about the iron vault beneath the old suburban house, and they were trying to get inside before Ethan arrived.
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