The Empty Safe
Chapter 09 - The Empty Safe
Police began investigating.
Charles stopped answering calls.
His apartment was empty.
His office computers had been wiped.
The notary who witnessed Eleanor's supposed signature claimed he had met Eleanor personally.
Eleanor had never seen him before.
Without the original documents, the case became complicated.
Then Daniel remembered something.
His father had never trusted safes.
Thomas used to say the most obvious hiding place was the first place a thief looked.
Eleanor smiled for the first time in two days.
"That sounds like him."
They searched Thomas's office.
Behind books.
Under drawers.
Inside old filing cabinets.
Nothing.
Daniel was about to give up when he noticed a framed photograph of his parents hanging slightly crooked.
He removed it.
Behind the frame was a narrow opening in the wall.
Inside was a fireproof document pouch.
Eleanor's hands trembled as she opened it.
The original deed was there.
So was Thomas's will.
And a letter.
The envelope read:
For Eleanor, when Daniel is finally ready.
Daniel looked at his mother.
"Did you know about this?"
She shook her head.
Eleanor opened the letter.
Thomas had written it weeks before his death.
He said he worried Daniel had become too desperate for approval.
Too easily influenced by wealth.
He asked Eleanor not to give Daniel the mansion until he learned that a home was something people protected together—not something one person deserved because of a last name.
Daniel couldn't finish reading.
He left the room crying.
Eleanor followed him.
But before she reached the hallway, something fell from the envelope.
A small bank key.
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Attached to it was a tag.
Safe Deposit Box 417.
