Page 122 of The Devil's Pawn

He shakes it, and the snow begins to fall. “It lights up, too, and plays music.” He turns it upside down and flicks a switch, but nothing happens.

“Batteries have probably run out, or they’ve leaked.” He opens the battery compartment, then frowns.

“What’s the matter?”

“There are no batteries, but there’s this.” He plucks out a key. “Why would my mother keep a key in a snow globe?”

I move in to take a closer look. It’s tiny, and I can’t imagine what itmight fit in.

“Did you find anything it might fit when you were clearing out space?” he asks.

“No. Nothing. Only that globe.”

“I don’t get it. My mother never did things without a reason. If she hid a key in this snow globe, she had a motive.” He rubs his forehead. “But I can’t for the life of me think what it could be.”

“Maybe your brothers or Saskia might have an idea.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Slipping the key into his pocket, he takes my hand and leads me from the room. “Let’s ask them.”

Chapter Forty-One

ALEXANDER

Saskia and Tobias are at Oakleigh, but Nicholas and Christian are away on business together, so I ask the two youngest to come to my office while I video call the other two. Once they have the same information as Imogen and I do, I produce the key and hand it over to Saskia, linking my fingers through Imogen’s.

“Are you sure you’re not reading too much into this?” she asks. “It’s just a silly key.”

It’s harder for Saskia. She was only four when Mum died. She never knew her like we did. Even Tobias has a patchy memory. But for me, Nicholas, and Christian, we were old enough to truly know her. Not as well as our father, obviously, but enough that Mum hiding a key has significance.

“There’s more to it than that. I feel it in my gut. The confusing part is why hide it somewhere we were unlikely to find it? If Imogen hadn’t unearthed the globe from Mum’s desk drawer, I’m not sure we’d ever have found it. I’d forgotten the globe even existed.”

“You said there wasn’t anything it might open in Mum’soffice,” Nicholas says. “But if she went to all that trouble to hide the key, I’m guessing whatever it opens will be hidden, too. For all we know, she could have buried it somewhere on the estate. We’ll never find it.”

“I say we forget it,” Saskia says. “It’s probably nothing.”

“Or it could be something.” Christian taps his forefinger on his bottom lip, which is what he does when he’s thinking. “I’ve often wondered why Mum didn’t leave a suicide note. Maybe that’s where she put it.”

“But why?” I scratch my cheek. “Why write a note, put it in a box, and hide both the box and the key that opens it? Besides, we all know why she killed herself.” Pain lances through my chest, the loss of my sister and mother within weeks of each other as sharp now as it was nineteen years ago.

“Don’t tie yourself in knots, Xan,” Tobias says. “I know you like to have answers for every little thing, but this… A nineteen-year-old mystery we might never solve. For all we know, the key could open a box where Mum kept Dad’s love letters, in which case, they should stay hidden.” He grins and shudders.

“We should talk to Dad,” Nicholas says. “He may have some insight.”

“Not yet,” I say. “I’d like us to poke around a bit more first.”

“What about contacting some of Mum’s friends?” Tobias asks. “They might know what the key opened. Women talk, right?” He looks at Saskia, then at Imogen for confirmation.

“I think you’re making a mystery out of thin air,” Saskia says. “Besides, how would we even go about finding Mum’s friends?”

“She must’ve had an address book.” Tobias looks atme for confirmation, and I shrug. I don’t recall one, but that doesn’t mean one doesn’t exist.

“I’ll arrange for one of the staff to gather Mum’s things from storage. If there’s nothing in her office, maybe whatever this key opens ended up amongst her personal effects.” I don’t relish going through Mum’s things and bringing up painful memories, but if it solves the mystery of the key, I’ll do it.

“Good idea,” Nicholas says. “Christian and I will be back in a few days. Maybe we can go through her stuff together.”

“We’ll help,” Tobias says, glancing at Saskia, who nods.

“Great.” I sigh. “Like you say, maybe it’s nothing, or maybe it’s something.”

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