THE SON THEY BURIED WAS THEIR ONLY HEIR

Chapter Twenty One: Time Never Forgets

The fire kept burning for a while even after the firefighters got there.

Firefighters rushed to the car that was on fire, a sedan, while police officers were making sure the people who lived nearby stayed back behind a safe line.

The smell of smoke was sharp, and it floated through the street where people lived.

Benedict stood beside the gate of Dr. Samuel Whitmore's place, the old silver pocket watch feeling heavy in his hand.

His eyes never left the burning car.

Whoever had been inside...

...was already dead.

The mastermind had erased another trail.

Not to hide from Benedict.

But to remind him of something.

Every answer came with a price.

Dr. Whitmore sat down on a wooden bench that was close to the entrance.

His hands trembled slightly.

"I've seen that before."

Benedict looked at him.

"The fire?"

The doctor slowly nodded.

"Thirty years ago."

"They burned records."

"They burned offices."

"They burned homes."

"They made every death look like an accident."

His voice became quieter.

"I thought those days were over."

Benedict carefully put the pocket watch into the pocket inside his jacket.

"They've never stopped."

"They've only become better at hiding."

A police officer approached them.

"Mr. Whitmore?"

"We'll need a statement."

The doctor nodded.

"I understand."

The officer glanced toward Benedict.

"And you are?"

"Benedict."

"A family friend."

The officer scribbled something into his notebook.

We'd like it if you both could stay in town for the time being.

"We're treating this as a suspicious explosion."

Benedict sodded.

He already knew the investigation would find nothing.

The mastermind never left evidence behind.

An hour later...

Benedict's car entered the gates of Ashcroft Manor.

The security team immediately surrounded the vehicle.

Victor was already waiting on the front steps.

The moment Benedict stepped out...

Victor walked straight toward him.

"Are you hurt?"

Benedict looked slightly surprised.

"No."

Victor finally let out a breath that he didn't even know he was holding inside.

"Good."

Only then did he notice Benedict's sleeve.

A thin streak of soot marked the cuff.

Victor brushed it away almost instinctively.

The simple gesture lasted only a second.

Yet it caught Benedict completely off guard.

For years...

Victor had treated him with respect.

Professional trust.

Quiet appreciation.

But never...

Like this.

Inside the study...

Gabriel Frost had already arrived.

A big map of the city took up a lot of space on one wall; it was really big.

Colorful pins were used to mark each incident that was linked to the conspiracy.

The chandelier sabotage.

Margaret's disappearance.

St. Gabriel Children's Home.

Dr. Whitmore's house.

Now...

The explosion.

Gabriel looked up as Benedict entered.

"You were expected."

Benedict frowned.

"Expected?"

Gabriel pointed to a picture from the surveillance camera; it showed a sedan that was on fire.

"Our team got to the scene about ten minutes after the blast."

He placed another photograph beside it.

"This vehicle."

"It wasn't there yesterday."

Benedict studied the image.

"So they positioned it in advance."

Gabriel nodded.

"They knew exactly where you'd be."

Silence settled over the room.

Victor folded his arms.

"Which means one thing."

Someone was leaking information.

From inside Ashcroft Manor.

No one spoke for several moments.

The realization was impossible to ignore.

Someone close enough to know Benedict's movements...

...was reporting directly to the mastermind.

Damian finally broke the silence.

"We need to question everyone."

Gabriel slowly shook his head.

"No."

"If we interrogate the staff now..."

"...the traitor will disappear."

Victor looked toward Benedict.

"What do you think?"

Benedict's answer came without hesitation.

"We don't hunt them."

"We let them believe they're still invisible."

Damian looked confused.

"And then?"

A calm smile crossed Benedict's face.

"We feed them the wrong information."

Gabriel smiled for the first time that day.

"I was hoping you'd say that."

Late that evening...

Benedict finally returned to his room.

He locked the door behind him.

The manor was silent.

Moonlight streamed across the polished wooden floor.

Slowly...

He took out a silver pocket watch that was inside his jacket.

He placed it gently on the desk.

The words on the back sparkled in the moonlight.

Time cannot bury the truth.

He pressed the release button.

The watch opened with a soft click.

Inside...

The mechanism had long since stopped working.

Its hands remained frozen at exactly...

9:17.

Benedict frowned.

Was it broken?

Or was it done on purpose? Maybe someone had intentionally made it stop at that exact moment?

As he turned the watch in his hand...

His thumb brushed against something unusual.

A tiny ridge inside the cover.

Almost invisible.

His pulse quickened.

It wasn't part of the original design.

It was...

A hidden compartment.

Benedict held the pocket watch under the light of the desk lamp.

His thumb ran over the small ridge that was hidden inside the cover again.

There.

It moved.

Barely.

He stuck his hand into the drawer and pulled out a small letter opener, then carefully pressed the edge of it.

A soft click echoed through the room.

A hidden panel sprang open.

Inside was no larger than a matchbox.

Only one object rested within.

A tightly folded piece of yellowed paper.

Benedict carefully unfolded it.

The paper had become fragile with age.

There were just a few lines written in really nice handwriting.

If you are reading this...

Then I have failed to protect you.

Never trust the story everyone agrees upon.

Truth survives in the questions people fear.

Remember the clock tower.

— E.A.

Benedict stared at the initials.

E.A.

Edward Ashcroft.

His heartbeat quickened.

Edward had written this.

But why would Edward hide such a message inside a pocket watch carried by the mysterious man who delivered Little Ben to the orphanage?

Nothing made sense anymore.

Or perhaps...

Everything was beginning to.

A quiet knock interrupted his thoughts.

"Benedict?"

It was Damian.

"May I come in?"

Benedict folded up the note and put it back in the secret spot where it was hidden.

"Come in."

Damian entered carrying two cups of tea.

"I thought you could use this."

He noticed Benedict's expression.

"You've found something."

Benedict hesitated.

There was no reason to distrust Damian.

Yet Gabriel's warning echoed in his mind.

Someone inside the manor is leaking information.

The fewer people who knew...

The safer they would be.

"I found another clue," Benedict admitted.

"But I'm still trying to understand it."

Damian nodded without pressing further.

"I know that look."

"What look?"

That feeling when it seems like you're shouldering all the responsibility alone.

A faint smile appeared on Benedict's face.

"I'm used to it."

Damian carefully put a cup of tea down in front of him.

"You don't have to be."

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

The silence wasn't uncomfortable.

It felt...

Like brothers sharing the same burden.

Meanwhile...

Across the city...

The old man was standing in a special room that was filled with really old clocks.

Hundreds of them.

Large clocks.

Small clocks.

Grandfather clocks.

Pocket watches.

Each one had its own beat, like they were all moving to a different drum.

The younger man entered quietly.

"We searched Dr. Whitmore's house."

"And?"

"The watch was gone."

The old man's eyes remained fixed on a towering grandfather clock.

"So..."

"Edward's final precaution survived."

The younger man frowned.

"Should we retrieve it?"

"No."

The mastermind smiled faintly.

"If we steal it now..."

"Benedict will know it matters."

He slowly adjusted one of the clocks.

"Sometimes..."

"The quickest way to hide the truth..."

The idea is to make someone think they've already discovered it.

The following morning...

Victor called an emergency executive meeting.

The room was packed with all the big bosses - the directors, the senior managers, and the people in charge of each department.

Benedict took his usual seat.

Damian sat beside Victor.

As the meeting got underway, Benedict sat back and took a good look around the room.

Not the presentations.

Not the financial reports.

The people.

Every smile.

Every glance.

Every whispered conversation.

Then...

He made his move.

Casually, he said,

"I'll be leaving tomorrow morning."

Several executives looked up.

Victor remained silent.

Benedict continued,

"I just got some information that could help us find the missing woman."

He chose to name an old, abandoned textile mill that was located on the far east side of the city.

The location was false.

Entirely false.

It existed only as bait.

No one questioned him.

The meeting continued.

But Benedict noticed something.

One executive reached down and grabbed his phone from under the table.

Only briefly.

Less than three seconds.

Then the phone disappeared again.

Most people wouldn't have noticed.

Benedict did.

So did Gabriel Frost.

Their eyes met across the boardroom.

Neither spoke.

Neither reacted.

But both had seen the same thing.

The trap had been set.

Now...

They would just wait and see who fell into the trap.

Late that evening...

Gabriel entered Benedict's office carrying a tablet.

"The surveillance team is in position."

Benedict nodded.

People don't usually follow a fake lead unless they have some kind of connection to it.

Gabriel smiled.

"Exactly."

Just then, one of the monitors beeped.

A vehicle had entered the grounds.

It wasn't scheduled.

The camera zoomed in.

A black sedan.

The same model that showed up outside St. Gabriel Children's Home.

The car stopped near the staff entrance.

A hooded figure stepped out.

He didn't approach the mansion.

Instead...

He quietly handed a sealed envelope to one of the workers at the manor.

Then both disappeared into the darkness.

Gabriel immediately enlarged the footage.

The guy kept his head down, trying not to be seen by the security camera.

Deliberately.

Benedict watched the recording in complete silence.

Finally, he spoke.

"We're close."

Gabriel nodded.

"Closer than they've realized."

Outside...

Rain began to fall over Ashcroft Manor.

Somewhere within its walls...

A traitor had just accepted another message.

And for the first time...

The hunter was becoming the hunted.