From the hallway.
“Mr. Corsaro?”
Emilio’s face went pale.
“That’s not Mrs. Tunney.”
PART 3 — THE WOMAN BEHIND THE WALL
Nobody spoke.
The voice came again.
“Mr. Corsaro?”
This time I heard it clearly.
It wasn’t Mrs. Tunney.
It was a recording.
Emilio stood slowly.
“Stay behind me.”
The old man who supposedly couldn’t walk without a cane suddenly looked like the man everyone in New Orleans feared.
He moved toward the wall beside the conservatory door.
He pressed a hidden button.
A panel opened.
Inside was a security monitor.
Three camera feeds appeared.
One showed the hallway.
Another showed the staircase.
The third showed the upstairs bedroom.
I stared at the screen.
Someone was standing beside Emilio’s old bed.
A woman.
She was wearing a black coat.
Her face was turned away.
Rafe had gone completely silent.
Emilio watched the screen.
“Who is that?”
Nobody answered.
Then the woman turned.
I recognized her.
Mrs. Tunney.
But that wasn’t possible.
Mrs. Tunney had been in the kitchen that afternoon.
I had spoken to her.
Emilio stared at Rafe.
“You told me she left the house.”
“She did.”
The screen flickered.
Then went black.
A second later, the conservatory lights went out.
