Chapter 14 - The Portrait Behind the Wall
While Arthur and Daniel searched through the newly opened files, Margaret wandered toward the far end of the chamber.
A massive oil portrait hung alone against the stone wall.
The painting showed twelve people gathered around the same oak table.
The original Custodians.
Margaret recognized only three faces.
Her father.
Arthur's father.
And Eleanor.
She frowned.
Eleanor looked older than she should have.
The date beneath the painting read:
1988.
"That can't be right."
Eleanor had supposedly disappeared in 1983.
Rebecca approached beside her.
"What is it?"
Margaret pointed silently.
Rebecca stared.
"If this date is accurate..."
"She was alive five years later."
Margaret reached toward the frame.
Something felt unusual.
The portrait moved slightly.
Arthur hurried over.
"Don't pull too hard."
But Margaret had already discovered a hidden latch.
The painting swung outward like a concealed door.
Behind it rested a narrow vault lined with dozens of videotapes.
Every tape carried the same handwritten label.
Testimony
Different dates.
Different names.
Daniel removed one at random.
Witness 07.
Another.
Witness 11.
Another.
Eleanor Ellis.
Margaret nearly dropped the tape.
Arthur carefully placed it into an old player standing nearby.
Static filled the monitor.
Then Eleanor appeared.
She looked tired.
Older.
But unmistakably alive.
"If you're watching this," she began calmly, "it means the Council failed to destroy the archive."
Margaret reached toward the screen without realizing it.
Tears filled her eyes.
"I've waited forty-three years to hear your voice."
Eleanor continued.
"If Daniel is standing beside you..."
Everyone instinctively looked toward him.
"...then the final decision belongs to him."
Daniel froze.
"What decision?"
The tape abruptly ended.
The machine automatically ejected the cassette.
May you like
Someone had intentionally erased the remainder.
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