PART 26: THE MAN ON THE TELEPHONE
Nobody spoke.
The kitchen seemed to shrink around me.
The voice on the telephone was calm.
Too calm.
Behind me, the sheriff silently mouthed,
Keep him talking.
I gave the smallest nod.
“Who are you?” I asked again.
The man chuckled softly.
“I’ve had many names.”
“But today…”
“…Martin Keller will do.”
I glanced toward the sheriff.
He immediately scribbled a note.
Trace the call.
A deputy slipped quietly into the hallway.
The caller continued.
“I imagine you’ve been asking the wrong questions all afternoon.”
“What questions should I ask?”
There was a pause.
Then he said,
“You’ve been asking who Richard Vaughn is.”
“That’s yesterday’s question.”
My pulse quickened.
“And today’s?”
“You should be asking…”
“…who inherited Richard’s work.”
The room fell silent.
Janice slowly lowered herself into a chair.
“No…”
she whispered.
“He wouldn’t.”
The man laughed.
“You always underestimated ambition, Janice.”
“You thought Richard built an empire.”
“He built a blueprint.”
Linda stepped closer to the phone.
“What do you want?”
“I don’t want anything.”
“I want to warn you.”
The sheriff frowned.
“Warn us?”
“Mrs. Ellis is about to open Box 314.”
No one had mentioned the bank box during the call.
Not once.
Yet somehow…
…he knew.
Linda’s expression hardened.
“How?”
“I know many things.”
He sounded almost amused.
“I know the photographs survived.”
“I know Father Donnelly kept his promise.”
“I know Harold’s quilt has finally been opened.”
My heart pounded.
Someone had been watching us.
Again.
The man continued.
“Tell me…”
“Did Harold leave you his last envelope?”
Linda and I exchanged a quick glance.
The sealed envelope.
DO NOT OPEN UNTIL RICHARD MAKES HIS FINAL MOVE.
We hadn’t told anyone about it.
Not even the sheriff.
I tightened my grip on the receiver.
“How do you know about that envelope?”
Silence.
Five long seconds.
Then—
“Because…”
“…I wrote the sentence on the front.”
Every person in the kitchen froze.
Janice shot to her feet.
“You’re lying!”
“No.”
“It was Harold’s idea.”
“My handwriting.”
“His words.”
Thomas looked as though the floor had disappeared beneath him.
“You knew Harold?”
The man’s voice softened.
“For thirty-two years.”
“I buried him.”
“I cried for him.”
“And I have spent twenty-eight years making sure Richard never found what he died protecting.”
No one knew what to say.
Finally, I whispered,
“If you’re telling the truth…”
“…why hide?”
“Because, Maggie…”
It was the first time he had used my nickname.
Only Harold…
Father Donnelly…
and a handful of close friends had ever called me that.
“…the moment I step into the light…”
“…Richard’s real successor will know exactly where I am.”
Linda’s eyes narrowed.
“So there is a successor.”
“Oh, yes.”
“And unlike Richard…”
“…this one wears a suit.”
The deputy hurried back into the kitchen.
“The call’s moving.”
“What?”
“It’s being routed through different exchanges.”
“We can’t lock onto it.”
The caller laughed again.
“I told you…”
“…you’re still asking yesterday’s questions.”
Then his tone became serious.
“Maggie.”
“Do not go to First County Bank tomorrow morning.”
Linda frowned.
“Why tomorrow morning?”
“Because that’s exactly when they’ll expect you.”
My heart skipped.
“Then when?”
Another pause.
“Go today.”
I looked at the clock above the stove.
It was 4:47 p.m.
“The bank closes in thirteen minutes.”
“I know.”
Click.
The line went dead.
For two seconds, nobody moved.
Then Linda grabbed her briefcase.
“The bank is seven minutes away.”
The sheriff reached for his keys.
“We’ll need an escort.”
I looked down at the tiny brass key in my hand.
For twenty-eight years…
Harold had hidden it.
Now we had thirteen minutes…
…before someone else reached Box 314 first.
