Chapter 5 — The Hidden Tool
Brenda kept her gaze fixed on her father for one long, unblinking second.
Arthur’s face had gone completely pale.
His shoulders slumped beneath his dark vest.
Without a word, Brenda turned her back on him and walked briskly down the hallway toward the living room.
Ethan was kneeling by the edge of the sofa.
In his small hands, he held a heavy, dark leather notebook with tarnished brass corners.
Two bold initials were embossed into the front cover.
A. J.
“Is this his?” Ethan asked, looking up with wide, worried eyes.
“Yes, honey,” Brenda said softly, kneeling beside him and taking the book from his trembling fingers.
“It’s his personal ledger.”
Brenda tested the brass clasp.
It was unlocked.
The small latch had been bent loose, likely shoved hurriedly underneath the couch in the heat of a panic.
She flipped open the thick, cream-colored pages.
Filled rows of neat, old-fashioned handwriting covered the paper.
Most of the pages contained dates, room measurements, and architectural notes about the house.
Brenda turned past the middle section.
A folded piece of metal slipped out from between the pages and dropped softly onto the rug.
Ethan reached down and picked it up.
“What is this?” Ethan asked, handing the cold object to his mother.
Brenda took it and inspected the item in the afternoon light.
It was a specialized small pry bar, barely six inches long.
The flat metal tip was engineered specifically for delicate woodwork and tight molding removal.
Brenda ran her thumb along the edge.
Fresh, powdery wooden dust clung stubbornly to the metal bevel.
The wood shavings matched the exact dark stain of the hallway framing.
Brenda looked from the tool in her hand to the indentation marks on the wall-mounted picture frame behind her.
The pry bar fit the gouge marks in the wood with terrifying precision.
Arthur stepped into the living room doorway behind them.
He took one look at the leather notebook and the metal tool in Brenda’s hand.
His eyes darted frantically toward the front door.
“I need to go,” Arthur blurted out, his voice hitching as he grabbed his car keys off the entryway table.
“I forgot an urgent errand across town. I have to leave right now.”