*Notice: Access to your checking account ending in 8841 has been temporarily suspended by court order.*

They had already frozen my money.

I had less than three hundred dollars in cash in my wallet.

“Ten minutes, Clara,” Celeste said, looking at her gold watch. “I suggest you start packing.”

I looked past her, toward the hallway that led to Eleanor’s study.

The diary was in the safe behind the portrait of the founder.

If I could get to it, I could prove Celeste and Graham were conspiring to defraud the estate.

I turned and walked quickly down the hall, my wet boots squeaking on the hardwood.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Celeste called out after me.

“To get my clothes,” I lied, keeping my pace steady.

I reached the study door and turned the brass handle.

The room was dark, smelling of old leather and woodsmoke.

I stepped inside and closed the door behind me, locking it from the inside.

I didn’t turn on the lights.

Using the flashlight on my phone, I crossed the room to the fireplace.

The portrait of my great-grandfather hung above the mantel.