Chapter 12 - Decrypting The Hidden Compartment Inside The Gold Locket
Alejandro overpowered the intruder within seconds, pinning him against the hallway wall with expert physical restraint. Police sirens wailed in the distance, rapidly approaching our suburban estate through the cool night air. I unlocked the bedroom door and stepped out into the hallway holding a bright tactical flashlight.
The man pinned to the floor was wearing a black ski mask and carrying a heavy metal crowbar. "Who sent you?" Alejandro demanded, pressing his knee harder into the intruder's lower back.
The masked man laughed darkly, spitting blood onto the Persian carpet. "You think your father took all his secrets to the grave, Alejandro? You have no idea what's coming."
Red and blue emergency lights flashed through the tall hallway windows as Columbus police cruisers swarmed our driveway. Officers breached the front double doors, running up the staircase with drawn weapons and tactical gear.
"Secure the perimeter and take this scumbag into federal custody," Alejandro instructed the responding sergeant. As police hauled the intruder away, my eyes dropped to the heavy iron crowbar lying beside the ruined baseboards.
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Attached to the crowbar handle was a strange, industrial key card stamped with the logo of Bennett & Vance Holdings. "He wasn't here to rob us," I realized aloud. "He was looking for the physical ledgers from the attic."
Alejandro checked the attic access hatch above our heads, finding it unlatched and pushed slightly open. "They're still hunting the missing financial documents that your mother discovered twenty years ago," Alejandro said grimly.
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