The Room Beneath the Ballroom
Chapter 08 - The Room Beneath the Ballroom
Miriam remembered a sealed archive beneath the ballroom, built when Vale House had served as the company’s first headquarters. Arthur stored original contracts there because he trusted paper more than servers.
The entrance was hidden behind a mirrored panel in the wine cellar.
Ethan, Nora, and Miriam entered after midnight while Mrs. Cole disabled the old motion alarms. Dust covered rows of cabinets. Many files had been removed, but one drawer still held architectural plans for the Golden Harbor district.
The plans revealed a protected trust clause around the workers’ neighborhood. Arthur could not sell the land directly, even as chairman. Any transfer required approval from the founder’s family trust.
Helena’s project depended on dissolving that trust.
In another cabinet, Nora found minutes from a secret board meeting held the day after Arthur died. Victor had declared both Arthur and Ethan legally unable to serve. Helena became acting trustee. Daniel, still in shock, signed as witness.
“This is how she did it,” Nora said. “She did not inherit control. She manufactured a vacancy.”
A sound came from the corridor.
The lights went out.
Someone locked the archive door from outside.
Smoke began seeping through the vent.
Miriam panicked, remembering the fire in the servants’ wing. Ethan forced himself to stay calm. The archive walls were stone; the danger was not flames but suffocation.
He used Arthur’s signet ring to loosen the screws on an old brass vent. Behind it ran a narrow document shaft leading to the former accounting room.
Ethan pushed Nora through first, then Miriam. By the time he climbed into the shaft, smoke had blurred his vision.
They emerged into the cellar as sprinklers activated.
Mrs. Cole found them and called emergency services. Security footage showed a masked figure entering through a staff door using Daniel’s access code.
Helena released a statement expressing concern for Ethan’s safety.
Daniel saw the code number on the police report and understood the message.
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His mother was not only framing him financially.
She was preparing to blame him for murder.
