Chapter 25 - The Secret Passage
The sound echoed through the mansion.
Daniel followed it into the hallway.
The grandfather clock stood against an oak-paneled wall, its hands frozen at exactly 9:40.
Yet the pendulum continued swinging.
Samuel crouched beside the base.
"Listen."
A faint mechanical vibration came from behind the wall.
Daniel carefully inspected the clock.
Years of maintaining industrial equipment overseas had taught him how concealed mechanisms often worked.
He gently rotated one of the brass weights.
Nothing.
Then the second.
A soft click answered.
The entire clock slowly slid sideways, revealing a narrow stone passage descending beneath the mansion.
Cold air drifted upward.
Lily instinctively stepped closer to her father.
Samuel switched on a flashlight.
The tunnel extended farther than any of them expected.
Concrete walls.
Modern lighting.
Ventilation ducts.
Someone had invested enormous resources into building it.
Halfway through the passage they found another steel door.
Unlike the hidden safe at the house, this one stood slightly open.
Inside waited a room lined with filing cabinets.
Most had already been emptied.
But one cabinet remained untouched.
Inside were employee records.
Contract agreements.
Payment schedules.
Every document carried the same corporate logo.
Daniel stared at it.
"I've seen this before."
"Where?"
Samuel asked.
Daniel searched his memory.
Then he remembered.
The logo belonged to the overseas construction company that had employed him for fifteen years.
Someone connected his work abroad...
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To everything happening at home.
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