Then Sophie leaned toward me.
“I need five minutes downstairs.”
“Why?”
“Anna left more than a letter.”
“What?”
Sophie swallowed.
“Bank records.”
I looked at Daniel.
He was watching us.
So I raised my coffee cup and smiled.
Then I said loudly, “Margaret, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”
She looked up.
“What’s that?”
I put down my cup.
“Where exactly is your basement?”
The entire table went silent.
And beside me, Sophie disappeared from her chair.
Margaret’s face changed first.
Daniel turned toward Sophie’s empty chair.
“What did you say?”
“I asked about the basement.”
His chair scraped backward.
I stood too.
“Sit down, Corinne.”
“No.”
He stared at me.
Behind him, I saw the pantry door move.
Sophie had made it through.
Daniel saw my eyes shift.
He ran toward the kitchen.
I stepped directly into his path.
“Move.”
“Your mother taught you better manners than that.”
“Corinne.”
Margaret hurried after him.
“Let me handle this.”
That told me something important.
Margaret wasn’t afraid Sophie would discover the basement anymore.
She was afraid of what Sophie might remove from it.
Daniel pushed past me.
I grabbed my phone.
“I wouldn’t do anything stupid, Daniel.”
He looked at the phone and hesitated.
