Framed by a mysterious glass sphere in a locked study, a disgraced WWII investigator must outsmart his military mentor.
Gunfire erupted as Arthur sprinted away from Clara’s house, the bullets chewing at the rose bushes beside him. He didn’t look back. The image of Clara’s tear-streaked face, filled with fear of *him*, was more painful than any wound.
He ran until his lungs burned and his legs ached, finding temporary sanctuary in a decaying, abandoned streetcar barn. The air was thick with dust and the smell of rust. Old streetcar husks sat like forgotten giants in the gloom.
He slumped onto a torn velvet seat, the exhaustion and emotional weight nearly crushing him. He’d lost Clara. Garrick had driven a wedge deeper than he thought possible.
A low cough from the shadows startled him. Silas Wright emerged, his suit rumpled, his face pale and drawn. He held a small, yellowed envelope.
“I knew you’d come here,” Silas whispered, his voice trembling. “It’s where you always went to think, after a rough case.”
Arthur stared at him. “You left the matchbook. You knew Garrick would turn Clara against me.”
Silas nodded, his eyes cast down. “He has a way of convincing people. He showed me documents, too. Said you were unstable. But I… I saw things. In the audit files.”
Silas held out the envelope. “This. I found it in a hollowed-out cabinet in his private vault. A letter from 1944. From a clerk, an auditing officer named Alistair Krol. He disappeared right after he wrote it.”
Arthur took the letter, his fingers tracing the faded ink. The date: October 1944.
He unfolded it carefully. The letter detailed how Colonel Garrick had systematically ordered the liquidation of non-combat civilian properties in occupied France, funneling the funds into private accounts. It accused Garrick of murdering Alistair Krol when Krol tried to report the theft.
Arthur looked up, his gaze locking with Silas’s. “Helena Krol. Her maiden name. Krolinska. She was Alistair’s sister.”
Silas nodded, tears welling in his eyes. “She knew. She knew Garrick killed her brother. That’s why she was after him. Not just for money, but for justice. She wanted to expose him for what he did back then.”
The full horror of Garrick’s depravity settled over Arthur. This wasn’t just about $350,000. It was about a hidden history of murder, theft, and a family’s vengeance. Helena hadn’t just been blackmailing Garrick for profit; she was settling an old score, exposing his wartime atrocities.
“She played a dangerous game,” Arthur said, the truth a bitter pill. “And Garrick played dirtier.”
Silas looked around nervously. “I have something else. A key. To Garrick’s private storage vault. Where he keeps everything. The real ledgers. I heard him talking about a new lock.”
More Stories
+ There are no comments
Add yours