Chapter 3 - REBECCA’S GRAVE
By sunrise, police had Sterling Manor locked down.
Detective Brooks advised William not to leave the hospital.
He ignored her.
So did I.
Ethan was safe with two officers outside his room.
William insisted on going to the cemetery.
I went because Ethan had asked me to.
“Claire knows where people hide things,” he had whispered.
I had no idea why he believed that.
But after what he had survived, nobody wanted to disappoint him.
Rebecca Sterling was buried beneath an old oak tree in a private section of Rosemont Cemetery.
Her headstone was simple.
REBECCA ANNE STERLING.
BELOVED MOTHER.
William stood silently before it.
Then he noticed the angel statue beside the grave.
“Ethan said behind the angel.”
We moved it.
Beneath the stone base was a plastic container wrapped in a grocery bag.
William stared at it.
“My son did this?”
“He was scared.”
Inside was a small wooden box.
The brass clasp was broken.
William opened it.
There was a flash drive.
A photograph.
And a handwritten letter.
William recognized the handwriting instantly.
“Rebecca.”
His hands shook.
The letter began with his name.
William read silently.
Then he handed it to me.
William,
If you are reading this, something has happened to me.
There are things inside this house that your father never wanted you to know.
The hidden rooms are not storage spaces.
They were used to frighten children into silence.
Your father knew.
Margaret knew.
And someone has begun using them again.
Do not trust anyone who tells you I was imagining things.
Protect Ethan.
And find Clara.
William grabbed the headstone to steady himself.
“Clara?”
“You know her?”
“My sister.”
I stared at him.
“You have a sister?”
“I had a sister.”
His voice changed.
“She disappeared when I was nine.”
The official story was that sixteen-year-old Clara Sterling had run away.
William’s father, Charles, refused to discuss her.
Years later, Charles died.
William inherited the company.
Clara became a family ghost.
Detective Brooks arrived minutes later.
When she saw the letter, she called for an evidence team.
Then William noticed the photograph.
It showed Rebecca standing beside another woman.
The other woman was Isabella.
The date printed in the corner was six years earlier.
William sat down on the grass.
“She lied.”
Rebecca and Isabella had known each other.
On the back of the photograph, Rebecca had written four words.
SHE CALLS HERSELF ISABELLA NOW.
Detective Brooks looked at William.
“What does that mean?”
Nobody answered.
Then William turned over the flash drive.
May you like
A label had been attached.
CLARA — FINAL RECORDING.
