Chapter 6 - THE BLUE HOUSE
William's late wife had never been reported missing before her death.
That was the first lie the blue house exposed.
Ethan told Detective Ortiz that months before Grace's boating accident, Isabella had driven them to a blue house near the water. Ethan remembered being left in a car while Isabella and Grace argued inside.
“Mom came out crying,” he said. “She told me not to tell Dad.”
“Why?” William asked.
“She said you were already scared.”
William looked away.
Emma knew what Grace meant. William's company had been under investigation then, and anonymous threats had arrived at the mansion. He had assumed business rivals were responsible.
Ortiz searched property records. A blue cottage in Cold Spring Harbor belonged to Adrian Vale's medical corporation.
Police obtained a warrant before dawn.
William insisted on going. Emma went too because Ethan begged her not to leave him alone, and Ortiz arranged for him to remain at the hospital with an officer.
The cottage looked peaceful from the road.
Inside, it was not.
The windows were reinforced. The bedrooms had locks on the outside. In one room, police found restraints, medical monitors, and a wall covered with photographs of wealthy families.
Grace Sterling's picture was among them.
So was William's.
So was Ethan's.
Emma found a cabinet filled with files. Every folder described a rich spouse, elderly parent, or child who had been declared unstable shortly before assets changed hands.
“This is a system,” Ortiz said. “Vale creates medical records. Lawyers obtain control orders. Someone inside the family takes the money.”
William opened Grace's folder.
It contained notes claiming she was paranoid and suicidal.
“She was neither.”
At the bottom was a signed recommendation for private confinement.
The requesting party was Isabella Maren—before she became Isabella Sterling.
Emma entered the adjoining room and noticed scratches inside a closet door.
Words had been carved into the paint.
WILLIAM, SHE IS LYING.
Grace's handwriting.
Beneath it was a date three days before the boating accident.
William touched the words and broke down.
Ortiz gave him one minute, then moved him away from the evidence.
A technician called from the basement.
They had found a freezer containing blood samples, sedatives, and a waterproof bag recovered from the harbor.
Inside the bag was Grace's missing phone.
The device still held one unsent voice recording.
Grace's frightened voice filled the room.
“If anything happens to me, Isabella did not come into our lives by accident.”
Then another voice spoke in the background.
May you like
It belonged to Daniel Pike.
“She's waking up. Give her more.”
