Chapter 5 - The Voice Behind the Door
The entire ballroom fell silent again.
Daniel moved toward the doors, but the head of security stepped in front of him.
“Stay back.”
“That’s Samuel,” Daniel said.
“Or someone using a recording.”
The voice came again.
“Daniel, do not trust the man standing beside the piano.”
Every face turned toward Victor.
Victor gave a bitter laugh.
“This is becoming ridiculous.”
Daniel approached the door.
“Samuel, where are you?”
A pause followed.
Then Samuel answered.
“Closer than you think.”
The head of security signaled to two guards. They unlocked the ballroom doors and pulled them open quickly.
The corridor outside was empty.
No Samuel.
No attacker.
Only a small black speaker sitting on the carpet.
Daniel crouched beside it.
A wire ran from the speaker beneath the wall panel.
Eleanor touched the panel carefully.
“This building has an old internal audio system. It connects to every service area.”
Daniel stood.
“Someone wanted us to believe Samuel was outside.”
Victor folded his arms.
“Exactly. Now perhaps you understand that none of this proves anything.”
Daniel looked at the remaining strip of music.
“What does ‘the room where the third movement began’ mean?”
Eleanor hesitated.
“Lydia and Samuel used a private rehearsal room beneath Victor’s first studio. They called it the Winter Room because the heating never worked.”
Daniel remembered something his mother had said during the final weeks of her life.
She often spoke while half asleep, repeating names and places that meant nothing to him then.
One phrase returned now.
The third movement is not music. It is a confession.
Daniel’s pulse quickened.
“My mother left me a storage key.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“What kind of key?”
“A brass key marked W-3.”
Eleanor looked stunned.
“Winter Room Three.”
Before Daniel could say more, his phone vibrated.
A message had arrived from an unknown number.
It contained a photograph.
Samuel was tied to a chair in a dark room, blood running from his temple. Behind him stood a concrete wall covered with musical notes.
Under the picture were six words:
Bring the key. Come without police.
Daniel looked up slowly.
Victor was watching his face.
“What did you receive?” Eleanor asked.
Daniel turned the screen toward her.
She covered her mouth.
The head of security reached for the phone.
“We need to contact the authorities.”
“No,” Daniel said.
Victor stepped closer.
“For once, the boy is correct. Whoever has Samuel may destroy everything if police arrive.”
Daniel studied him carefully.
“You seem very certain.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“I understand desperate people.”
Daniel slipped the phone into his pocket.
Then another message appeared.
This one included an address.
May you like
Daniel knew it instantly.
It was the apartment building where his mother had died.
