Emily walked out of the main gates and drove straight to a nearby park.
She parked beneath a large oak tree and turned off her car engine.
Her hands were shaking as she pulled the brass key from her coat pocket.
The key was old, with intricate leaf patterns carved around the top handle.
She remembered her late father carrying a key just like this on his ring.
He had passed away three years ago after a sudden, suspicious illness.
Derek had managed the family affairs and convinced everyone that money was tight.
Emily realized now that every word out of Derek's mouth had been a calculated lie.
She waited until eight o'clock in the evening when total darkness fell over the valley.
She parked her car half a mile down the road from the mansion.
She walked quietly along the thick hedge line, keeping out of sight of the streetlights.
She slipped through a loose wooden fence panel at the back of the property.
The old garden shed sat in shadow behind the overgrown glass greenhouse.
The iron padlock on the shed door was heavy and rusted from winter rain.
Emily inserted the brass key into the lock and turned it carefully to the right.
With a sharp metallic click, the lock released and fell into her gloved hand.
She pulled the creaky door open and stepped inside the dusty room.
She used her phone flashlight to sweep across the old wooden shelves and lawn mowers.
In the far corner beneath a dirty canvas tarp sat a heavy black metal box.
She dragged the box out into the center of the concrete floor.
The box had a matching brass keyhole right on the front clasp.
She inserted the key and turned it again until the heavy lid popped open.
Inside lay thick stacks of official financial documents tied with red string.
On top of the papers was a heavy video camera memory card wrapped in plastic.
Emily pulled out the top folder and read the bold red header across the page.
It was her father's true Last Will and Testament, dated one week before his death.
The document clearly stated that the mansion and all liquid assets belonged to Eleanor and Emily.
Derek was explicitly left out due to prior evidence of company embezzlement.
Emily held the memory card tightly in her fist as tears of relief filled her eyes.
Suddenly, the shed door swung wide open, flooding the space with bright light.