Chapter 6 - Secrets Unearthed in the East Wing
At three-thirty in the afternoon, the private school transport dropped Lorelai and Gemma back at the main gate. The rain had intensified into a torrential downpour, lightning flashing across the gray sky.
Rosamund met the girls at the front portico with large umbrellas and warm towels. As soon as the children stepped inside, Rosamund escorted them directly to their private playroom in the east wing, far away from Sabina’s quarters.
“Stay here, my darlings,” Rosamund said warmly, setting down a platter of freshly baked cinnamon scones and warm cocoa. “I’ve put on your favorite animated movie. I have some deep cleaning to finish in the library, but I’ll be right outside the door if you need anything.”
Lorelai grabbed Rosamund’s wrist. “Rosa... is Sabina going to yell at us again?”
Rosamund knelt down, looking Lorelai straight in the eye with infinite warmth and strength. “I will never let anyone hurt you, Lorelai. I made a promise to someone very special a long time ago, and I intend to keep it until my last breath. Trust me.”
Gemma kissed Rosamund’s cheek. “We trust you, Rosa.”
From the bunker, Chadworth watched Rosamund close the playroom door securely. She then walked toward the library, her expression turning dead serious.
Once inside the library, Rosamund pulled out her phone and dialed a number. Marcus immediately patched the audio feed into the bunker’s sound system.
“Hello? Detective Miller?” Rosamund spoke in a hushed, urgent tone. “It’s Rosamund Kelly. I have the secondary medical logs from Eleanor Prescott’s final hospice files. The chemical compound listed in the private shipments matches the synthetic toxin we suspected three years ago in Chicago.”
Chadworth leaned into the microphone. “Marcus... who is Detective Miller?”
Marcus ran a quick digital query. “Retired Chicago Homicide Detective Robert Miller. He led the private investigation into Eleanor Prescott’s sister’s death six years ago.”
Chadworth gasped. “Eleanor’s sister, Clara?”
“Clara died of sudden heart failure six years ago in Chicago,” Marcus reported, scanning the encrypted police archive. “Clara was previously married to... Julian Croft. Sabina Vance was Clara’s personal assistant at the time.”
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The full scope of the web was finally laid bare. Sabina and Julian Croft were serial predators targeting wealthy heirs and heiresses, systematically eliminating family members through untraceable pharmaceutical poisoning while positioning themselves to inherit family trusts. Rosamund wasn't merely a loyal housekeeper; she was Clara’s younger half-sister who had gone undercover to protect Eleanor’s children after the justice system failed to convict Croft six years earlier.
“My God,” Chadworth whispered, falling to his knees as the crushing weight of the revelation hit him. “Rosamund gave up her entire life, her identity, her career... to clean my floors and protect my daughters from the monsters I invited into my home.”
