Richard slowly lifted his head, his face completely drained of color as he stared at his seven-year-old daughter.
Richard: Lily... what did you just say?
Lily: Mommy's inside the wall. She tapped three times. She always taps three times for bedtime.
Victoria: Richard, this is absurd! You cannot indulge this disturbing delusion!
Richard: Be quiet, Victoria.
Victoria: No, I will not be quiet! She is traumatizing you! Sarah left us! She took five hundred thousand dollars from our trust fund and fled the country!
Tyler: You told the detectives that, but nobody ever found a flight record under her name!
Officer Davis: Mr. Hayes, which wall is the child referring to?
Lily pointed directly at the corridor partition separating the foyer from the old service pantry.
Lily: Right there. Where the wallpaper is peeling near the floor.
Richard stood up slowly, putting Lily gently behind Tyler's back.
Richard: That wall was sealed off during the renovation two years ago.
Victoria: Yes! Because the foundation was cracked! The contractors handled the drywall repair while you were in London!
Richard: You told me you hired licensed contractors, Victoria. But when I asked for the invoice for the homeowners insurance, you said you lost the receipt.
Victoria: Because it was paid in cash! You know how hectic the estate accounts were back then!
Officer Davis stepped forward, pulling a heavy tactical flashlight from his utility belt and clicking it on.
The bright white beam illuminated the base of the wall, revealing a tiny jagged split along the seam of the floral paper.
Officer Davis: There's a hollow hollow space behind this Sheetrock. It's not solid plaster.
Victoria: That's just an old dumbwaiter shaft! Don't touch that vintage wallpaper, Richard, it's imported silk!
Tyler didn't wait. He grabbed a heavy bronze umbrella stand from the corner and smashed it hard into the drywall seam.
The plaster cracked open with a sickening crunch, creating a gaping hole four inches wide.
Victoria: Tyler, stop it! Richard, control your son!
Officer Davis shoved Tyler gently aside and knelt down, shining the powerful beam directly into the dark opening.
A foul, musty draft puffed out into the clean foyer air, carrying a heavy chemical stench of old lime and damp stone.
Officer Davis's breath caught sharply in his throat as the beam reflected off something pale and tangled deep within the crevice.
Several long strands of golden blonde hair hung motionless, caught between the jagged wooden studs inside the hollow cavity.
Officer Davis: Dispatch, this is Unit 4. I need crime scene investigators and emergency rescue units at the Hayes residence immediately.
Victoria took two frantic steps backward toward the open front door, her keys jangling wildly in her grip.
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