A Dirty Little Girl Entered His Gala—Then He Saw Her Ring

Chapter 07 - Locker 317

The key opened storage unit 317.

Henry, Naomi, and Rebecca arrived to find the outer lock cut cleanly in half. Someone had entered less than an hour earlier.

Boxes lay overturned. Papers burned inside a metal trash bin. A man in a dark jacket escaped through the rear loading dock before Naomi could see his face.

Most of the evidence appeared destroyed.

Then Henry noticed a child’s chalk drawing on the wall: a blue circle around the number seven.

Lucy had drawn similar circles in the margins of books at the bakery apartment.

Unit 317 contained seven metal shelving posts. The seventh had a loose base.

Inside was a waterproof tube holding three memory cards, a French passport in Mara’s real name, and a sealed letter addressed to Henry.

This time the handwriting belonged to Claire.

Father,

If Lucy reaches you, then Mara has done what I was too frightened to do. I survived Paris. Daniel did not. Richard knows I survived because he arranged the place where I have been kept.

Henry had to stop reading.

The letter explained that Claire woke after the fire in a private clinic outside Paris. She was told Daniel died and that her unborn child had not survived. She later discovered both statements were lies. Mara, who worked briefly as an administrator at the clinic, rescued the newborn and fled.

Claire attempted to escape months later.

She was caught.

After that, she was moved repeatedly under false medical identities. Drugs kept her confused, and every message she sent to Henry was intercepted.

The final paragraph contained a name:

Dr. Lucien Moreau knows the truth. Find the account called Paris Winter.

On the memory cards were financial records linking Richard to private clinics in France, Belgium, and Canada. Payments continued for twelve years.

The latest transfer went to North Lake Behavioral Center in Vermont.

Henry called Naomi.

Before she answered, the storage facility lights went out.

Footsteps approached from the loading dock.

Caleb Rusk entered holding a flashlight.

“I need the cards,” he said.