Page 52 of In Her Memory

When she snapped off her phone’s light, she saw it—a dim, inverted image projected on the far wall of the passage. Her breath caught. The image showed Boyd’s bedroom, but upside-down, the ornate ceiling now appearing as a floor, the bed seemingly suspended from above. The quality was ghostly but unmistakable—the bedroom was being projected into this hidden space.

Jenna moved closer, studying the image. She traced the source of the light—a tiny pinhole in the wall, barely visible but allowing a thin beam to pass through. The hole was positioned at precisely the right height and angle to capture the full room and project it, inverted, onto the opposite wall of the passage.

A camera obscura.

The simplest form of photography, and the oldest—light passing through a small opening to project an image. She’d learned about it in a college elective, but never expected to encounter one in a Victorian mansion in Trentville.

Jenna studied the pinhole, which glowed with light from the room beyond. From the bedroom side, the hole would be nearly invisible in the ornate woodwork. But here, it served as a window—a one-way view into the private spaces of Calloway House.

She guessed that Pete had built these passages when he first builds the mansion. Not just for servants or secret movement, but for observation. He’d been watching his guests, spying on them through these carefully placed pinholes—holes that were too small to serve as peepholes, but which served the same function..

The implications sent a wave of disgust through Jenna.

“Sheriff?”

Jake’s voice, muffled but alarmed, came from the bedroom. Jenna quickly retraced her steps to the panel and pushed it open, stepping back into the light.

“What the hell?” Jake stood just inside the doorway, Officer Baldry behind him. “What were you doing, going in there and shutting yourself up alone?”

“I found something,” Jenna said, brushing dust from her sleeves. “Pete Shannon didn’t just build hidden passages—he built a surveillance system.”

She explained what she’d discovered about the camera obscura effect, watching understanding dawn on their faces.

“So, he was spying on people back in his day,” Jake said slowly.

“And now someone has been using these passages to stage these ‘accidents’,” Officer Baldry said.

“That’s right,” Jenna agreed. “We need to explore them, find out where they lead. It’s going to take some time. These patterned inlays seem to be all over the building, probably giving access to every apartment. And we have to search quietly—we can’t alert our suspect.”

“About that,” Jake said, his expression shifting. “What I came to tell you is that someone just showed up at the front door.” He paused, meeting Jenna’s eyes. “It’s Nolan Greer.”

Jenna felt a jolt at hearing the name which was now at the top of their suspects list.

“Nolan’s downstairs?” Jenna asked, keeping her voice low despite the closed bedroom door. The passageway’s hidden entrance still gaped open behind her, a slice of darkness amid the room’s ornate Victorian furnishings. “He just showed up?”

“Walked right through the front door like nothing was wrong. Said he had no idea about what happened to Boyd until Officer Hutchison told him.”

“Don’t start jumping to conclusions,” Jake said, reading her expression. “If Nolan’s our guy, why would he waltz in here the morning after killing Boyd? Why not stay away until the heat dies down?”

“To check his handiwork?” Baldry suggested. “See if we’re on to him?”

“Maybe,” Jenna said. “Or maybe he realized we’d eventually connect the dots, and decided the best defense was to act like he had nothing to hide.”

She glanced back at the passageway, thoughts churning. “Plus, he knows this house inside out. If anyone would have discovered those passages, it would be him.”

Jenna stepped away from the passage, her gaze falling on Boyd’s still form beneath the sheet. A man whose death had been engineered to look like an accident, a haunted house come to life.

“We need to question Greer,” she said. “Where is he now?”

“Officer Hutson took him to the library,” Jake replied. “He’s keeping an eye on him. He’ll stay put.”

Baldry asked, “Should we start searching the passages? Find out where they lead.”

Jenna considered this. "Not yet. First, we need to secure our suspect. Then we can—"

A sharp knock at the bedroom door interrupted her. All three turned toward the sound.

“Who is it?” Jenna called, eyes darting to the open passage behind her. The last thing they needed was for that discovery to become common knowledge.