Chapter 10 - The Secret Wall Safe
At midnight, Clara sat suddenly upright in her bed, her heart hammering against her ribs as a forgotten memory surfaced.
She walked into the main room where Sophie was still typing away at her encrypted laptop by the dying fire.
"The wall safe," Clara said, her voice breathy with sudden realization.
"What wall safe?" Sophie asked, pausing her fingers over the keyboard.
"When we renovated the master bedroom, Julian made me alter the framing plans behind the oak bookcase," Clara explained, pacing the floorboards.
"He said it was structural reinforcement for the chimney, but he installed a biometric fireproof vault behind the drywall."
Sophie stood up, her analytical mind immediately grasping the implications.
"Why put a second vault in the bedroom when he already had a safe in his study?" Sophie asked.
"Because the study safe was for the tax audits," Clara said, her eyes narrowing as the pieces connected.
"The bedroom safe is where he kept the flash drives—the recordings of his business partners, the offshore passwords, and the original deeds he coerced me into signing."
Viktor stepped out of his bedroom, tying his robe over his shoulders.
"If those drives contain illegal financial leverage, his lawyers will try to purge that safe before the forensic audit begins," Viktor said.
"Can we get a warrant to open it?" Clara asked.
"A warrant takes forty-eight hours," Sophie said, checking her watch.
"But you are still the legal homeowner on the municipal deed, and you know the layout better than any police team."
Viktor looked at his daughter, seeing the steel returning to her posture.
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"We call Detective Keller at dawn," Viktor decided.
"We enter the house lawfully with a police escort, we open that wall, and we take every secret Julian Hartmann ever tried to bury."
