Chapter 2 - The Piano Answers With One Note
Adrian's last sentence seemed to change the temperature of the room.
“Because the last person who played it disappeared.”
Emily stood beside the black Steinway with one hand still resting on her cleaning cart.
The security man in the doorway did not move.
Neither did Adrian.
Emily looked from one man to the other.
“Who disappeared?”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“My wife.”
Emily had worked at Blackwood Manor for only six weeks, but she had heard enough whispered fragments from the staff to know Adrian Vale had once been married.
Nobody had ever told her how the marriage ended.
She had assumed divorce.
“Her name was Claire,” Adrian said. “Ten years ago, she sat at that piano after dinner. The next morning, she was gone.”
Emily looked at the keys.
“Did she leave a note?”
“No.”
“Did anyone see her leave?”
Adrian’s eyes sharpened.
“You ask a lot of questions for someone who was dusting.”
Emily lowered her gaze.
“I’m sorry.”
He immediately seemed to regret the remark.
The anger drained from his face.
“No. I’m sorry.”
That surprised her more.
Adrian Vale was known throughout the house for being distant, exacting, and almost unnaturally controlled.
He was not known for apologizing.
He turned to the guard.
“Thomas, give us a minute.”
Thomas Reed hesitated.
“Sir—”
“A minute.”
The guard left, though Emily noticed he remained visible through the glass-paneled door.
Adrian walked toward the piano.
He did not touch it.
“The police searched this room. They searched the property. They searched the lake.”
Emily glanced toward the tall windows overlooking the dark water beyond the gardens.
“Nothing?”
“Nothing that proved where she went.”
“Then why close the piano?”
Adrian stared at the polished lid.
“Because this was the last place I saw her happy.”
Emily understood then.
The instrument was not forbidden because Adrian hated it.
It was forbidden because he had turned grief into a rule.
She reached for the fallen feather duster.
Her sleeve brushed the keyboard cover.
A single key sounded.
Adrian went completely still.
Emily froze.
“I’m sorry.”
He was not looking at her.
He was looking at the key.
Middle E.
The note faded.
Then something clicked inside the piano.
Emily heard it clearly.
So did Adrian.
His expression changed.
“What was that?”
Emily leaned closer.
“I don’t know.”
Adrian finally touched the instrument.
He pressed the same key.
E.
Nothing.
Emily frowned.
She pressed it again.
Still nothing.
Then she noticed a faint line beneath the ivory.
“Sir.”
“What?”
“This key is higher than the others.”
Adrian stared.
It was barely noticeable.
He called Thomas back.
Within minutes, the mansion’s maintenance supervisor arrived with tools.
Adrian refused to let anyone damage the instrument.
They removed the keyboard panel carefully.
Beneath middle E sat a tiny brass mechanism.
Attached to it was a narrow compartment.
Adrian stared as though the piano had just opened its mouth.
“That wasn’t there.”
“You’re sure?” Emily asked.
“I bought this piano for Claire. I watched it restored.”
The compartment was old enough to have been added during restoration.
Inside lay a folded strip of paper.
Adrian’s fingers shook as he opened it.
The handwriting was elegant.
Blue ink.
He recognized it instantly.
“Claire.”
Emily watched his face.
The message contained only one sentence.
ADRIAN, IF YOU EVER FIND THIS, DON’T TRUST THE STORY THEY TOLD YOU ABOUT MY SISTER.
Adrian read it twice.
Then a third time.
Emily asked quietly, “What sister?”
Adrian looked up.
“Claire didn’t have one.”
From the doorway, Thomas Reed suddenly dropped his radio.
The sound cracked through the room.
Adrian turned.
May you like
Thomas had gone pale.
And Emily realized the security chief knew exactly who Claire meant.
