Chapter 8 – Beneath the Fountain
Construction workers shut off the fountain.
Hours later, the water was drained.
Grace climbed carefully into the empty basin.
Near the center, one stone sounded hollow.
She tapped it again.
Charles heard it too.
Together they lifted the heavy slab.
A rusted metal box rested inside.
Its lock had already been broken.
Someone had searched it before.
Only one envelope remained.
Grace opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
The same little girl.
Only older.
Standing beside a teenage boy.
Charles stared silently.
"I know him."
Grace looked closer.
"Who is he?"
"My older brother."
"You told me you were an only child."
Charles nodded slowly.
"That's what my parents wanted everyone to believe."
The wind suddenly picked up.
The envelope slipped from Grace's hand.
A second piece of paper fluttered free.
It contained only one sentence.
The truth is buried where no one mourns.
Charles whispered,
"The family cemetery."
Someone had been leaving clues for decades.
May you like
But who?
End of Chapter 8
