Chapter 12 – The Woman Who Never Existed
Chapter 12 – The Woman Who Never Existed
The police finally arrived.
Detective Olivia Brooks took command of the investigation.
She listened carefully as Charles explained everything.
Then she requested every employment record connected to Ashcroft Manor.
Grace searched through decades of personnel files.
One name kept appearing.
Margaret Holloway.
Caretaker.
Estate Manager.
Private Tutor.
Security Consultant.
Yet something was wrong.
There was no birth certificate.
No driver's license.
No family.
No photograph in any government database.
Detective Brooks frowned.
"It's as if she never officially existed."
Grace unfolded another faded document.
It was a payroll ledger from twenty-five years earlier.
Every employee had signed beside their salary.
Except Margaret.
Her signature was always replaced by a small symbol.
A circle.
Inside it...
An eye.
Charles stared at it.
"I've seen this before."
"Where?"
"My father's study."
"He carved it into the underside of his desk."
The detective immediately ordered the desk examined.
Hidden beneath a false drawer...
They found another brass key.
This one was engraved:
May you like
C-1
End of Chapter 12
