The Locked Archive
Chapter 07 - The Locked Archive
The original Whitmore House had been closed for renovation.
Beneath its marble lobby, a narrow staircase led to a basement archive lined with steel cabinets.
Nathan, Abigail, Sophie, and Martin entered together.
The fire had begun there thirty-seven years earlier.
The walls still carried faint smoke stains beneath newer paint.
Abigail imagined her father running through the corridor.
She had known him as a quiet man who repaired mixers and brought home broken appliances because he believed everything deserved another chance.
She had never known he once dragged strangers through smoke.
They searched for six hours.
Most records from 1987 to 1990 were missing.
Then Sophie noticed scratches beneath a shelving unit.
Behind it was a narrow metal door.
Nathan found the key in his grandfather’s old desk.
Inside were boxes labeled with numbers instead of names.
One contained insurance photographs.
Another contained internal letters.
The third held a cassette recorder and a sealed envelope addressed to Thomas Monroe.
Abigail opened the envelope.
Inside was a handwritten statement from Charles Whitmore, Nathan’s father.
It was dated two days before the fire.
Charles wrote that Henry had ordered the fire alarms disabled to avoid delaying renovations before an important investment inspection.
Thomas objected.
Charles agreed with him.
The letter ended:
If anything happens, Thomas is not responsible. He is the only man here willing to tell my father no.
Nathan sat down on the concrete floor.
Abigail knelt beside him.
The truth had cleared her father.
It had also proved Nathan’s grandfather knowingly endangered the building.
Sophie inserted the old cassette into a dusty recorder.
A man’s voice filled the room.
Henry Whitmore.
He was arguing with someone.
Then Thomas’s voice answered.
“You can take my shares, Henry. You cannot make me carry your son’s death.”
The recording clicked off.
Martin stared at them.
“This could bring down the entire company.”
May you like
Nathan looked at Abigail.
“Then it comes down.”
