Chapter 12 - The Woman at the Gate
The hidden compartment contained no money or property deed.
It held a single iron key.
A small paper tag was tied around it.
For Nora. When Meridian comes.
Her knees weakened.
The handwriting belonged to Ethan.
The next morning, before Nora could determine what the key opened, a black sedan stopped outside the house.
A silver-haired woman stepped out.
She wore a dark blue coat and carried a leather case. She remained outside the gate until Nora approached.
“My name is Evelyn Cross,” she said. “I worked with your husband.”
Nora did not unlock the gate.
“What kind of work?”
“The kind Ethan did not want his family to know about.”
Nora felt her suspicion sharpen.
Ethan had worked as an environmental engineer. His projects had taken him across the state, but he had never described his work as secret.
Evelyn opened her case and removed a photograph.
It showed Ethan standing beside the stone wall with Evelyn and three other people. Behind them was an old wooden sign.
HAYES COMMUNITY FARM — ESTABLISHED 1912.
“This photograph was taken six weeks before Ethan died,” Evelyn said.
Nora stared at it.
“Our house was never part of a farm.”
“Yes, it was. Your property was the original farmhouse. The land behind it belonged to Ethan’s great-grandmother.”
Evelyn explained that the entire area had once been protected by a private conservation agreement. Meridian could not legally build there unless the agreement was destroyed or invalidated.
“Mason has been purchasing pieces of the old farm through shell companies,” Evelyn said. “Your backyard is the final piece.”
“Why didn’t Ethan tell me?”
“He planned to. Then he discovered someone had accessed his office files.”
Nora looked toward the iron key in her hand.
“Do you know what this opens?”
Evelyn’s calm expression changed.
“Where did you find that?”
“In the wall.”
May you like
Evelyn stepped closer to the gate.
“That key opens Ethan’s evidence room.”
