Chapter 3 - The Photograph in the DrawerBy midnight, Julian was back at the house.
Police had sealed the property.
Crime-scene tape fluttered across the broken kitchen windows.
The place looked less like a home now and more like the set of a crime documentary.
Julian walked upstairs with Detective Reed.
"I need to know why Cassandra chose this house," Reed said.
"So do I."
They entered the master bedroom.
Julian stopped.
Everything was exactly where he had left it.
The bed.
The photographs.
Evelyn's perfume.
Her books.
Her old sweater.
Two years of grief suddenly felt like a lie.
Reed opened the dresser.
"Nothing."
Julian stared at the closet.
Then something caught his eye.
A loose floorboard.
He knelt.
Pulled it up.
Beneath it was a small wooden box.
Inside was a photograph.
Julian stared at it.
Evelyn was standing beside Cassandra.
But the photograph was old.
Very old.
They were younger.
Much younger.
And they weren't alone.
A man stood between them.
His face had been deliberately scratched out.
On the back of the photograph, someone had written:
WE WERE FAMILY BEFORE YOU WERE BORN.
Julian's stomach dropped.
"Evelyn never told me about this."
Reed examined the picture.
"Maybe she didn't know."
Julian turned the photograph over.
There was another line beneath the first.
ASK HER ABOUT THE VALE FOUNDATION.
Julian's expression changed.
"The foundation?"
Reed looked at him.
"Your family charity?"
"Yeah."
"When was it created?"
"Before I met Evelyn."
Reed's eyes hardened.
"Then you have a problem."
"What?"
"The foundation's original trustees."
Julian stared at him.
"Who were they?"
Reed slowly answered.
"Your father."
"Cassandra."
"And a man named Victor Hale."
Julian stopped breathing.
"Victor Hale died twelve years ago."
Reed shook his head.
"No."
He pulled out his phone.
"Victor Hale died."
May you like
Then he looked directly at Julian.
"But his son didn't."
Related Stories
