Chapter 17 - The Voice From 801
Room 801 belonged to the first Solmere Hotel.
Charlotte drove north with Celeste the next morning.
It was the first time they had been alone together since the shooting.
Celeste’s arm remained in a sling.
For twenty minutes, neither spoke.
Finally Celeste said.
“You could have left me in that archive.”
Charlotte looked at the road.
“I considered it.”
Celeste laughed.
“Fair.”
Silence returned.
Then Celeste whispered.
“I’m sorry.”
Charlotte glanced at her.
“For the lobby?”
“For everything.”
Charlotte took a breath.
“I don’t forgive you yet.”
Celeste nodded.
“I know.”
“But I believe you’re trying.”
“That’s more than I deserve.”
Room 801 was occupied by an elderly couple.
Charlotte paid for their upgrade.
Then she and Celeste searched.
Nothing.
No safe.
No hidden drawer.
No unusual wall.
Celeste sat on the bed.
“This is ridiculous.”
Charlotte looked toward an antique radio built into a cabinet.
The hotel had preserved it for decoration.
Room 801 had been renovated repeatedly.
But the radio appeared original.
Charlotte opened the back.
A small cassette tape fell out.
Celeste stared.
“My mother?”
Charlotte inserted it into an old player the manager found downstairs.
Static.
Then Caroline Vale spoke.
“My name is Caroline Meredith Vale.”
Celeste covered her mouth.
It was the first time she had ever heard her mother’s voice.
“If Celeste is listening.”
Caroline paused.
“I’m sorry I could not raise you.”
Celeste began crying silently.
“I made terrible choices because I believed Victor loved me.”
Charlotte reached for Celeste’s hand.
Caroline continued.
“He did not.”
“He used me to watch Eleanor.”
The tape revealed everything.
Caroline discovered Victor’s role in Samuel’s death.
She copied Samuel’s recording.
When Victor learned she had evidence, he threatened to take newborn Celeste.
Caroline planned to expose him.
She died three days later from what records called postpartum complications.
But Caroline did not believe she would survive.
Her final words were instructions.
“The original recording is where Samuel proposed to Eleanor.”
Charlotte whispered.
“The roof.”
Samuel proposed on the rooftop of the first Solmere.
Charlotte and Celeste ran upstairs.
Beneath an old stone planter, they found a waterproof case.
Inside was Samuel’s phone.
The battery was dead.
But the memory card remained intact.
Ethan recovered the audio that evening.
Samuel’s voice.
Richard’s voice.
Victor’s voice.
A struggle.
Then Victor saying clearly.
“If Eleanor won’t give me Solmere, I’ll take everything else.”
A splash followed.
Then Richard screamed.
The recording ended.
Celeste stared at the screen.
Charlotte could barely breathe.
They finally had Samuel’s voice.
But Ethan was still looking at the recovered files.
“What?”
Charlotte asked.
He turned the computer toward her.
Samuel had recorded another message one hour before boarding the boat.
Its recipient was Eleanor.
May you like
But the message began with a sentence Charlotte never expected.
“If something happens tonight, Charlotte must never inherit Solmere.”
