Chapter 22 - The Blueprint Hidden in Plain Sight
That afternoon Daniel returned to the house alone.
The envelope from the hidden safe still remained unopened.
He wanted to understand the house first.
Walking through the hallway once more, he stopped beneath a large framed landscape painting.
Something about it bothered him.
Not the artwork.
Its position.
The frame had been removed and rehung many times.
Fresh marks surrounded the screws.
Daniel lifted it from the wall.
Behind it...
Nothing but drywall.
Still...
The measurements refused to leave his mind.
He knocked against the wall.
Solid.
Then lower.
Hollow.
Using a utility knife from his toolbox, he carefully cut along an existing seam hidden beneath the molding.
A narrow panel came free.
Inside rested a rolled architectural drawing.
Not the original blueprint.
A revised one.
Stamped with a renovation permit issued eleven years earlier.
Except...
Daniel had never approved any renovation.
Someone had forged his signature again.
The revised plans clearly showed a reinforced chamber beneath Michael's office.
An access tunnel.
A ventilation shaft.
And another passage leading...
Beyond the property line.
Directly toward the abandoned warehouse.
Samuel arrived minutes later.
After studying the plans, he looked at Daniel in disbelief.
"This wasn't just a hidden room."
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"It was designed as part of something much larger."
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