Chapter 4 - THE ROSARY
Julian stared at the heavy iron key resting in his daughter’s small palm. The red string was frayed, smelling faintly of pipe tobacco—his father’s signature scent.
He gently took the key, his thumb tracing the jagged teeth. "Last night, Lily? Are you sure it was last night?"
Sarah knelt beside them, her brow furrowed in confusion. "She woke up crying around 2:00 AM, Julian. She said Grandpa was outside her window, but when I checked, no one was there. I thought it was just a bad dream."
It wasn't a dream. Arthur had sneaked out of his own house, bypassed security, and visited his granddaughter hours before he was supposed to be dead in a box. The answer was clear: Arthur knew he was going into that coffin. He orchestrated his own farewell.
But why? And how did a supposed voluntary disappearance turn into an attempted murder with black duct tape?
Julian stood up, clutching the key. He looked over at Maria. She was still frozen near the scattered lilies, her eyes locked on the iron key in his hand. She wasn't just scared anymore; she looked utterly defeated.
"Maria," Julian said, his voice dangerously low. "What does this key open?"
Elias stepped between them, an oily smile creeping onto his face. "It doesn't matter what it opens, Julian. Your father’s affairs are already settled." Elias reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out a folded legal document. "He signed the transfer deed for the estate over to me three days ago. For your protection."
"Protection from what?" Julian snatched the paper. The signature was unmistakably Arthur's, but the handwriting was jagged, terrified.
"From the debt," Elias said coldly. "Your father gambled away the company pension fund, Julian. He was facing federal prison. I bought the debt to save your family name. The condition was the estate. He couldn't live with the shame, so he chose... a quiet exit."
It made a twisted kind of sense. The financial struggles, the hushed phone calls late at night. But as Julian stared at the deed, a paramedic suddenly yelled from the hallway.
"We’re losing him! Vitals are crashing, we need the paddles!"
Julian sprinted into the hall. His father was convulsing on the stretcher, his chest bare. As the paramedics shocked him, a heavy gold chain slipped from Arthur’s clenched fist, clattering onto the linoleum floor.
Julian picked it up. It was an ornate gold rosary, missing its crucifix. Julian instantly recognized it. It wasn't his father’s. Elias wore that exact rosary every single day. Elias had dropped it inside the casket when he leaned in to tape Arthur's mouth shut.
Elias didn't just facilitate a suicide to save the family name. Elias tried to murder Arthur to silence him.
Julian turned slowly, holding the broken rosary up to the harsh fluorescent lights. Elias’s smug smile vanished.
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"Where is the desk this key opens, Maria?" Julian demanded.
Maria finally moved. She looked at her brother, then at Julian, her jaw tightening. "It's not a desk, Julian. It's the old grandfather clock in his study."
