The penthouse was quiet. William was still at the office, finalizing the equity transfer, and Isabella had taken Leo for a stroll in the park.
Victoria was in the spare room, which was currently filled with boxes brought over from the Manor during the move. She was looking for Leo’s birth certificate but found herself sorting through William’s old files instead.
She moved a stack of dusty ledgers and found a heavy, steel lockbox at the bottom of a crate marked *Personal – Do Not Discard.*
Curious, she tried the latch. Locked.
She looked around. On William’s old keychain–the one he kept in his desk drawer for the classic car he rarely drove–there was a small, rusted key.
She retrieved it and tried the lock. *Click.*
The lid creaked open. Inside, there was no money or jewelry. There was only a single, thick file folder. The label was typewritten and yellowed with age: *Incident Report 1998 – R. Croft.*
“Richard,” Victoria whispered. William’s father.
She opened the file. It wasn’t just a death certificate. It was a police report, heavily redacted, and a series of letters from a private investigator addressed to Lady Beatrice. The words *Project Nightingale*, *Embezzlement*, and *Cover-up* jumped out at her.
Why was this hidden in a lockbox? William rarely spoke of his father, only that he died in a car accident. But this file suggested something far more complicated–and perhaps criminal.