SHATTERED BY SECRETS

The Hidden Door — Part Two

Chapter Seven

The scoreboard returned to 00–00.

No warning.

No error message.

No sign that anything unusual had happened.

For several seconds, the only sound in the indoor court was the steady hum of the ventilation system.

Mason was the first to speak.

"Okay..."

He looked around the room.

"...I'm officially creeped out."

Lucas walked over to the control panel mounted beside the entrance. He pressed a few buttons, checking the system logs.

"Nothing."

"What do you mean, nothing?" Chloe asked.

"No outages."

"No software update."

"No power interruption."

He frowned.

"It's as if the scoreboard never changed."

Ava folded her arms tightly.

"But we all saw it."

Ethan nodded.

"It wasn't a hallucination."

Mason forced a laugh.

"Unless we're all hallucinating together."

Nobody laughed with him.

---

Victoria arrived less than five minutes later after one of the housekeepers informed her about the incident.

"What happened?"

Lucas explained everything from the beginning.

Victoria listened without interrupting.

When he finished, she glanced towards Adrian Wells, who had hurried over carrying his laptop.

"Can someone access the scoreboard remotely?" she asked.

Adrian considered the question.

"In theory, yes."

"In practice?"

"It would require access to the estate's internal network."

Lucas looked at him.

"So whoever did this..."

"...was either inside the mansion..."

Adrian paused.

"...or has already compromised our entire security system."

Richard rubbed the back of his neck.

"I don't like either option."

Victoria turned to Adrian.

"I want every password changed today."

"Already started."

"Every camera checked."

"I'm working through them."

"And I want every member of staff interviewed."

Richard looked surprised.

"Every member?"

"Everyone."

Her voice was calm but firm.

"I don't care if they've worked here for twenty years."

"If someone is helping the person behind this..."

"...I intend to find out who."

---

The interviews began after lunch.

Housekeepers.

Gardeners.

Drivers.

Chefs.

Security guards.

One by one, each employee was invited into the study for a brief conversation with Adrian.

Most looked nervous.

Some seemed offended.

None appeared guilty.

At least not obviously.

Ava watched from the library balcony overlooking the entrance hall.

"I feel bad for them."

Ethan joined her.

"Why?"

"What if they're innocent?"

"They probably are."

"But someone's making them all feel like suspects."

Ethan leaned against the wooden railing.

"My dad always says investigations aren't about proving everyone guilty."

"They're about finding the truth."

Ava looked down at the line of waiting staff.

"I hope he's right."

---

Late that afternoon, Lucas knocked quietly on Ava's bedroom door.

"You busy?"

"Not really."

He stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

"Ethan's downstairs."

"So?"

"I think we should tell you something."

Ava frowned.

"What?"

Lucas lowered his voice.

"When I was younger..."

"...I saw Mum use that hidden door."

Ava stared at him.

"You did?"

"I couldn't have been more than ten."

"What happened?"

Lucas walked over to the window, looking out towards the gardens.

"I woke up during a thunderstorm."

"I couldn't sleep."

"I came into the hallway..."

"...and saw Mum holding an old silver key."

"The same one from the photo online?"

"I think so."

"What did she do?"

"She unlocked the panel."

"And?"

"She disappeared inside."

Ava barely breathed.

"Did you follow her?"

Lucas shook his head.

"No."

"I was scared."

"What happened afterwards?"

"About five minutes later she came back out."

"She looked like she'd been crying."

Ava felt a chill run down her spine.

"Did she ever mention it again?"

"Never."

"And eventually I convinced myself I'd imagined the whole thing."

He looked at her.

"Until you found the keyhole."

---

That evening, Ethan suggested they search the public records room in the university library.

"If the mansion has hidden sections..."

"There might be original building plans."

An hour later, the three of them sat surrounded by dusty archive boxes.

The elderly librarian smiled kindly.

"Research project?"

"You could say that," Ethan replied.

She pointed them towards a shelf labelled Historic Property Records.

"Everything before 2010 is over there."

Lucas climbed the ladder first.

"I've got Hawthorne..."

"No."

"Hawthorne Holdings..."

"No."

"Hawthorne Estate!"

He carefully carried the large leather folder to the table.

The original blueprints unfolded across nearly the entire surface.

Ava's eyes widened.

"This place is enormous."

Bedrooms.

Guest wings.

Ballrooms.

Service corridors.

Wine cellar.

Indoor pool.

Everything was labelled with remarkable detail.

Everything...

Except one section.

Ethan pointed towards the western wing.

"What's that?"

A small rectangular space appeared between Victoria's office and the third-floor hallway.

No room number.

No description.

Only blank white space.

Ava traced her finger across the page.

"It shouldn't exist."

Lucas frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"If these measurements are right..."

She reached for a ruler.

"...the hallway should continue another four metres."

"But it doesn't."

"So where does the extra space go?"

Silence.

The answer slowly dawned on all three of them.

There really was...

A hidden room.

---

As the university library prepared to close, Ava carefully folded the blueprint.

"We should photocopy this."

"We're not allowed," Lucas reminded her.

Ethan pulled out his phone.

"I've got a better idea."

He photographed every page.

Just as he snapped the final picture...

His phone vibrated.

Unknown Number.

He frowned.

"I don't usually get spam."

He opened the message.

His face drained of colour.

"What is it?" Ava asked.

Without speaking, Ethan handed her the phone.

It contained a single photograph.

The image had clearly been taken through the library window only moments earlier.

It showed Ava, Ethan and Lucas standing around the blueprint.

Watching them.

Studying the hidden room.

Beneath the photograph was one sentence.

Some doors should never be opened.

For a long moment, none of them spoke.

Lucas slowly turned towards the library windows.

Outside, evening shadows stretched across the campus.

Students walked home.

Cars passed in the distance.

No one looked suspicious.

No one looked familiar.

Yet someone had been standing close enough to take the photograph.

And by the time they realised it...

Whoever it was had already disappeared into the crowd.