Chapter 5 - THE MAID'S SECOND DISCOVERY
Olivia returned to the estate two days later.
Not because Gabriel ordered her to.
Because she had noticed something in the photographs.
A detail the technicians had overlooked.
She called Matteo first.
“I want to see the maintenance records.”
Matteo hesitated.
“Why?”
“Because the people who installed the microphones weren't trying to hide from housekeeping.”
He frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“They were trying to hide from security.”
Gabriel met her in the library.
He looked tired.
There were dark circles beneath his eyes.
Nero immediately crossed the room and leaned against Olivia's leg.
She scratched his ears.
“Hello, trouble.”
Gabriel almost smiled.
“You came back.”
“I came to answer a question.”
He nodded.
“Then ask it.”
Olivia placed two photographs on the desk.
“One shows the vent in your office. The other shows the one in the west study.”
Gabriel looked.
“What am I seeing?”
“Dust.”
Matteo frowned.
Olivia pointed.
“The office vent was cleaned properly before the microphone went in. The study vent wasn't. Whoever installed that one disturbed the dust but didn't wipe the surrounding wall.”
“So?”
“So two different people installed them.”
Gabriel looked up.
Olivia continued.
“One knew how to work without leaving a mess. The other didn't.”
Matteo studied the photographs.
“Professional installer and amateur?”
“Possibly. Or one person working carefully and another in a hurry.”
She pointed to the screws.
“And the newer devices use a different brand of fastener.”
Gabriel leaned back.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning whoever wanted you to hear the recordings may have added equipment after the original surveillance system was already operating.”
Silence.
Then Gabriel said, “Two groups.”
Olivia nodded.
“That's what I think.”
The independent technicians confirmed her observation.
The earliest devices were installed by someone with professional security knowledge.
The later devices had been added more crudely.
The relay in Guest Room 7 belonged to the second installation.
And its sound-emitting function appeared deliberate.
Someone had wanted Nero to notice.
Someone had wanted Gabriel to find the microphones.
But not before certain conversations had been recorded.
Gabriel asked Olivia to stay for lunch.
She hesitated.
“I'm still technically an employee.”
He understood immediately.
“You're right.”
He stepped back.
“Then let me ask something different. Would you be willing to consult with the forensic team? You'll be compensated at a professional rate, and you can decline.”
Olivia stared.
“A housekeeping consultant?”
“A person who notices what everyone else misses.”
She considered.
Then nodded.
“For a limited time.”
“Agreed.”
“And I leave when I say I'm leaving.”
“Agreed.”
“And my daughter stays out of this.”
Gabriel's expression changed.
“I will do everything I can to make sure of that.”
Olivia studied him.
“Don't promise what you can't control.”
He was silent.
Then nodded.
“Fair.”
That afternoon, Olivia entered Guest Room 7 again.
Nero followed.
The room smelled of plaster dust and old wood.
She examined the furniture.
The curtains.
The fireplace.
The desk.
Then stopped.
The writing chair.
Its left rear leg had a small scratch.
Olivia remembered noticing it months earlier.
But now the scratch looked fresh.
She turned the chair over.
A folded strip of paper had been taped beneath the seat.
Her pulse quickened.
She removed it carefully.
Three words were written in black ink.
ASK ABOUT MARA.
Olivia stared.
She had never heard the name.
But when she showed Gabriel, his face lost all color.
“Mara?” she asked.
He sat down slowly.
“Mara Duca.”
Olivia waited.
“My sister.”
She frowned.
“I thought you had one brother.”
Gabriel looked toward the window.
“So did most people.”
May you like
Then he said the words that changed everything.
“My sister disappeared twenty-two years ago.”
