Chapter 32
The Voice in the Cabinet
The fingerprints belonged to Mara.
Claire knew that was impossible. She also knew the shape of Mara's hands from childhood: a small scar across the left palm, a crooked thumbnail, a habit of pressing the first finger flat when she was angry.
The prints matched all three.
“Open it,” Tess said.
“No,” Lucy answered.
The glass cabinet whispered.
“Claire.”
The voice came from inside.
Claire approached. “Mara?”
“Not yet.”
The copy stepped beside her. “You promised not to let me hear her.”
“I promised you nothing.”
“You promised before you knew me.”
Claire placed her palm on the glass. The cabinet unlocked.
Inside was no body. Only a microphone, a mirror, and a strip of paper folded into quarters.
The mirror reflected Claire and the copy together.
For the first time, they looked like sisters.
The paper contained one line.
Ask the copy what the original did at 4:17.
Claire turned toward the woman beside her.
“What did I do?”
The copy looked at the mirror.
“You opened the door.”
“Which door?”
“The one where Rowan was waiting.”
Daniel crossed the room. “Where is Rowan?”
The copy looked at him. “You saw her last night.”
“The woman in the corridor?”
“That was not Rowan.”
“Then who?”
“The first response.”
Daniel's face tightened. “And Rowan?”
The copy pointed to the mirror.
In the reflection, a girl stood behind Claire.
She was twelve years old. She held a blue pencil. The face was blurred, but the eyes were Daniel's.
Daniel turned around.
The room was empty.
“She is in the mirror,” the copy said.
“Get her out.”
“She is not in there.”
The voice in the cabinet returned.
“The mirror is a witness.”
The glass cracked from top to bottom.
The girl in the reflection lifted her hand and wrote on the surface with the blue pencil.
4:17 — ROOM 12 — DO NOT LET HIM CHOOSE.
Daniel reached for the cabinet.
The floor opened beneath him.