Chapter 4 - The Key in the Clock
Julian stepped around the desk, placing himself firmly between Victoria and me, his posture rigid.
"I suggest you leave this office immediately, Miss Vance," Julian said, his voice dropping into a dangerous register. "Any further threats directed at Mrs. Vance will be recorded and forwarded directly to the district attorney handling the estate’s security protocol."
Charles, the youngest brother, grabbed Victoria's arm, pulling her back a step. "Vance, don't make a scene here. Let the lawyers handle it in probate court next Monday. She won't survive a formal competency challenge anyway."
Victoria glared at me one last time, her eyes full of venom, before turning on her heel. "This isn't over, old woman," she spat over her shoulder as she marched toward the door, her brothers trailing closely behind her.
The heavy glass door clicked shut, leaving Julian’s office wrapped in a suffocating, heavy silence.
I let out a long breath, my fingers resting lightly on the edge of the envelope.
"They're going to file the competency challenge first thing Monday morning," Julian said, running a hand through his graying hair as he sank back into his chair. "They have deep pockets, Clara. They can drag this through the courts for years."
"Let them try," I said quietly. I opened my handbag and pulled out a small, heavy brass key attached to a faded blue ribbon—the key Arthur had slipped into my palm the night before he passed away, telling me it unlocked the grandfather clock in his penthouse suite. "Arthur didn't just leave me papers in a lawyer's office, Julian. He left me a physical anchor."
Julian’s eyes widened as he looked at the brass key. "The clock in the master study? The one the family had dismantled last year thinking it contained a hidden safe?"
"They looked for a digital keypad or a false back," I said, standing up and buttoning my coat. "They didn't think to look inside the mechanical weight chamber."
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Julian stood up immediately, grabbing his suit jacket from the back of his chair. "Then we need to get back to the penthouse before Victoria and her brothers realize the clock is missing from the estate inventory."
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