Chapter 26 - Blackwood Estate
The rain intensified as three unmarked vehicles left the city behind.
Arthur Hale sat beside Chief Mercer in silence while Director Collins reviewed satellite photographs of the abandoned Blackwood Estate. According to public records, the mansion had stood empty for nearly fifteen years after its last owner died without heirs.
Yet thermal imaging taken less than an hour earlier revealed multiple heat signatures inside.
Someone was living there.
Someone had been careful enough never to appear in property records, utility inspections, or local reports.
Mercer lowered the photographs.
"So the estate wasn't abandoned."
Arthur looked through the rain-covered window.
"It was abandoned only by people who stopped asking questions."
The narrow road curved through dense woods before opening onto rusted iron gates nearly twelve feet high. Ivy covered the stone pillars, and broken statues lined the entrance like forgotten sentries.
From a distance, the mansion appeared lifeless.
Dark windows.
Cracked stone walls.
Collapsed fountains.
But Arthur noticed something almost immediately.
"The chimney."
Mercer followed his gaze.
A thin ribbon of smoke drifted into the storm.
"Someone lit a fire less than an hour ago."
The convoy stopped two hundred yards away.
Collins unfolded an old architectural blueprint recovered from Elena's journal.
"The main entrance is obvious," he said quietly.
Arthur shook his head.
"They'll expect that."
He pointed toward the eastern side of the drawing.
"There used to be a servant's passage beneath the wine cellar."
Mercer raised an eyebrow.
"You've been here before."
Arthur nodded.
"Twenty-three years ago."
"You searched it?"
"No."
"I was invited."
Neither Mercer nor Collins spoke.
Arthur's expression darkened.
"It was the last place I ever saw one of my closest partners alive."
Silence settled over the vehicles.
Outside, lightning illuminated the mansion for only a second.
High in one of the upper windows, a silhouette stood perfectly still.
Watching them.
May you like
Then it disappeared before anyone else noticed.
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