David immediately dialed the local police department while Sarah brought little Leo into the warm, bright kitchen.
She poured a glass of fresh milk and placed the plate of mini cheeseburgers right on the wooden table.
Leo ate hungrily, his tiny hands shaking as he devoured the food Emily had been bringing him secretly.
Within twenty minutes, two police cruisers arrived at the front entrance of the residence with lights flashing softly.
Detective Miller, a seasoned investigator with grey hair and a sharp gaze, walked into the white foyer.
David explained the situation quickly, showing the detective the hidden room beneath the grand central staircase.
Detective Miller: Someone had to have a key to your rear entry, Mr. Vance.
Detective Miller: This wasn't a random break-in by a stranger.
David: Only three people have keys to our home outside of Sarah and myself.
David: My property manager, the housekeeper, and my stepmother, Eleanor.
Sarah turned around quickly from the counter, her eyes wide with sudden understanding and deep shock.
Sarah: Eleanor came by on Tuesday to drop off those old charity boxes from her trust fund office!
David: Eleanor was the executor of Michael's small life insurance policy after he passed away back then.
Detective Miller took notes in his small leather pad, nodding his head with a stern, professional expression.
Detective Miller: If your brother had a legal heir, that insurance money and his trust share belonged to the boy.
Detective Miller: If the boy disappeared, where would that inheritance money go under the terms of the estate?
David: It would revert entirely to Eleanor as the surviving trustee of the family estate fund.
David felt a cold surge of anger rising in his chest as the pieces of the puzzle clicked together.
His stepmother had been managing Michael's affairs and had kept the boy hidden away from the entire family.
She had taken the boy from his mother and tucked him into the unused structure of David's own house.
She planned to framed David for taking the child or keep the boy hidden until the trust period expired.
David: She used my own house to hide her crime right under my nose.
David: She knew we rarely checked that storage closet under the stairs during the busy work week.