Chapter 7 - The Man on the Roof
“Samuel!” Daniel shouted.
The figure did not move.
Smoke thickened inside the apartment, spreading across the ceiling. Eleanor coughed and covered her mouth with her sleeve.
Victor grabbed a dining chair and struck the locked front door.
The wood cracked but did not open.
Daniel kept his eyes on the rooftop.
The man in Samuel’s coat lifted one hand and pointed downward.
Daniel followed the gesture.
A narrow maintenance platform ran beneath the apartment windows. It was barely wide enough for one person to stand on, but it connected to the next building.
“That’s our way out,” Daniel said.
Victor looked at the four-story drop.
“You expect us to climb across that?”
“You can stay and burn.”
Daniel helped Eleanor through the window first. She stepped onto the metal platform and pressed her back against the wall.
Victor followed.
Daniel climbed out last, holding the box beneath his jacket.
As they moved sideways above the alley, flames appeared inside the kitchen.
The man on the roof remained motionless.
When they reached the neighboring building, he disappeared.
They forced open a window and entered an empty office.
Eleanor collapsed into a chair, breathing heavily.
Victor looked at Daniel.
“Open the rest of the letter.”
Daniel had not noticed a second folded page inside the envelope.
He unfolded it carefully.
The message was shorter.
Victor was not the only one responsible for the fire.
Eleanor read over his shoulder.
Her face changed.
Daniel continued.
Samuel knew the studio would burn. He helped move the recordings before the flames began.
Victor laughed quietly.
“At last.”
Daniel stared at him.
“You knew?”
“I knew Samuel was never a victim.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“Then why did he disappear?”
“Because Lydia discovered what he had done.”
Daniel felt anger rising.
“You said you wanted to own their music.”
Victor’s expression became hard.
“I wanted the rights. Samuel wanted revenge. Lydia stood between us.”
A phone began ringing somewhere in the dark office.
None of them recognized the sound.
Daniel followed it to a desk in the corner. An old landline phone sat there, though the office appeared abandoned.
He answered.
Samuel’s voice came through clearly.
“You survived.”
Daniel tightened his grip.
“Where are you?”
“Not where the photograph was taken.”
“Did you set the fire?”
A long silence followed.
Then Samuel said, “Ask Victor what happened to your father.”
Daniel froze.
“My father died before I was born.”
“No,” Samuel replied. “That is what Lydia needed you to believe.”
The line clicked dead.
Behind Daniel, Victor took one slow step toward the door.
Daniel turned.
Victor’s expression revealed the answer before he spoke.
“You knew my father,” Daniel said.
Victor looked toward the smoky window.
“Yes.”
“Who was he?”
Victor opened the office door.
May you like
Before leaving, he looked back at Daniel.
“The man you have been calling Samuel Vale.”
