And then, with a trembling voice, she said, “All of us need to talk. Inside.”
But the moment they stepped in, Alex noticed something… something that made his stomach drop.
A missing picture frame.
A smashed drawer.
And a safe—Grandfather’s safe—standing open.
Empty.
Alex froze at the sight, the air in the living room turning cold around him. The safe had always been tucked beneath the stairs, hidden behind an old coat rack. His grandfather used it only for documents he considered irreplaceable—family records, war medals, and a small stack of handwritten letters.
It had never been left open. Ever.
“What happened here?” Alex asked, his voice low and steady.
Helen swallowed hard. “Richard said he… he misplaced the key one day and had to force it open.”
“That’s a lie,” Alex said immediately. “Grandfather kept the keys in a metal box under his bed. No one misplaces that.”
