Chapter 2: The Voice in the Dark
Someone screamed.
Chairs scraped violently across the floor.
The organ music stopped with a sudden electronic pop, leaving only the sound of people breathing and stumbling in the darkness.
Ricardo kept one hand on Bia’s shoulder.
“Everybody stay where you are.””
His command brought some order back.
The emergency lights along the floor blinked on, bathing the chapel in a weak red glow.
Helena stood frozen beside the first row.
She looked less like a grieving widow and more like someone trapped in a room with a secret that had finally learned how to speak.
Ricardo took out his phone.
No signal.
He frowned.
“Did anyone call security?””
The funeral director shook his head.
“The system is down.””
“What system?””
“The building system. Phones, cameras, everything.””
Helena whispered, “That’s not possible.””
Ricardo heard her.
“What did you say?””
She looked at him.
“I said nothing.””
“You just said that wasn’t possible.””
“I’m upset.””
“So am I.””
A knock came again.
Slow.
Measured.
Not someone panicking outside.
Someone waiting.
Ricardo walked toward the doors.
“Who’s out there?””
A man answered.
“Ricardo.””
Every muscle in Ricardo’s body tightened.
He knew the voice.
But he couldn’t place it.
“Open the door.””
Ricardo didn’t move.
“How do you know my name?””
A pause.
Then:
“Because your brother told me.””
Helena made a small sound.
Not a gasp.
Not a cry.
Something more revealing.
Recognition.
Ricardo turned toward her.
“You know him.””
“No.””
“You reacted.””
“I reacted to the situation.””
“You’re lying.””
Helena’s face hardened.
“You always did think you were smarter than everyone else.””
Ricardo stepped closer.
“My brother is dead.””
“So?””
“You said he told the man outside my name.””
Helena looked away.
Bia tugged Ricardo’s sleeve again.
“Don’t open it.””
“I’m not opening it.””
“She said he would come back.””
Ricardo looked down.
“Who?””
Bia shook her head.
“I don’t know his name.””
The man outside laughed quietly.
“You should listen to the little girl.””
Ricardo stared at the door.
“You can hear us?””
“I can hear everything.””
That sentence changed the room.
The mourners looked at one another.
One man immediately lowered his voice.
Someone else moved away from the walls.
Ricardo stepped back.
“Everybody move toward the center.””
No one questioned him.
“Why?”” Helena demanded.
“Because whoever is outside may not be alone.””
She looked at him strangely.
“You really believe that?””
“Yes.””
The phone in Ricardo’s hand vibrated.
Everyone jumped.
It was an incoming message.
UNKNOWN NUMBER.
The text contained one sentence.
CHECK THE BODY.
Ricardo looked toward the casket.
Helena saw it.
“No.””
He started forward.
She grabbed his arm.
“Don’t.””
He stared at her hand.
“Why?””
She released him immediately.
“I don’t know.””
“You just told me not to check the body.””
“I meant this is a funeral. Show some respect.””
Ricardo pulled back the lid slightly.
The funeral director protested.
“Sir, please.””
Ricardo ignored him.
Daniel lay beneath the white silk cloth.
His face was calm.
Too calm.
Ricardo studied him carefully.
Then he noticed something.
A small bruise beneath Daniel’s left ear.
He had never noticed it before.
He turned the phone flashlight toward it.
“What is that?””
Helena stepped forward.
“I don’t see anything.””
Ricardo looked harder.
There was a second mark.
A thin red line on the collar.
Like something had pressed against his neck.
“Why wasn’t this in the report?””
Helena’s voice cracked.
“Because it was already explained.””
“By who?””
She said nothing.
Ricardo turned toward the funeral director.
“Who prepared him?””
The director swallowed.
“Mr. Vale.””
“Where is he?””
“He left twenty minutes ago.””
Ricardo’s eyes narrowed.
“Did he say why?””
“No.””
The unknown number sent another message.
DON’T TRUST THE FUNERAL HOME.
Ricardo looked around.
The walls.
The locked doors.
The mourners.
Helena.
Then Bia.
He suddenly understood the cruel precision of the situation.
Someone had planned this.
The hidden phone.
The blackout.
The message.
The funeral.
Everything.
He walked back to Bia.
“Did your mother hide anything else?””
Bia nodded.
“In the doll.””
Ricardo looked at the toy.
“What else?””
Bia hesitated.
“There’s a zipper.””
She turned the doll around.
A thin zipper ran beneath its dress.
Ricardo opened it.
Inside was a folded piece of paper.
He unfolded it.
Three words.
ROOM 214.
And beneath them, a time.
11:30 PM.
Tonight.
Ricardo looked at the chapel clock.
9:42 PM.
Almost two hours.
Helena saw the note.
Her expression changed.
“You can’t go there.””
“Why?””
“I…”
Her voice failed.
Ricardo stepped closer.
“You know what Room 214 is.””
Helena whispered, “It’s where Daniel kept the files.””
The room became silent.
“What files?””
She closed her eyes.
“Financial records.””
“About what?””
“About the company.””
Ricardo stared.
“Daniel told me he closed the investigation.””
“He lied.””
“About what?””
Helena looked toward Bia.
Then toward the casket.
Then at the locked doors.
She whispered:
“About everything.””
Before Ricardo could respond, the chapel windows rattled.
A bright flash appeared outside.
Then another.
Lightning.
But there was no thunder.
Instead, the lights came back on.
The doors suddenly unlocked.
The man outside was gone.
And lying on the floor beneath the entrance was a brown envelope.
Ricardo opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Daniel standing beside Helena.
And beside them was another man.
Ricardo knew him.
He had seen that face on television.
The police chief who had personally signed Daniel’s accident report.
On the back of the photograph, someone had written:
THE THREE PEOPLE WHO KNOW WHY HE DIED.
Ricardo looked at Helena.
“How long have you been lying to me?””
May you like
Her lips trembled.
“For years.””
