Chapter 8 - The Tunnel Under the Palace
Detective Ortiz covered her mouth.
Two officers rushed toward the door.
The locking mechanism would not release.
Emma looked at the old stone walls.
The former wine cellar connected to delivery tunnels beneath the palace.
She had seen gardeners bring soil through one passage during restoration.
A shelving unit covered the entrance.
The officers pulled it aside.
Behind it was a narrow arch sealed with bricks.
The mortar looked new.
Vanessa had closed the escape route.
Gas continued pouring from the vents.
Ortiz used a metal bar against the bricks.
Emma grabbed another.
Together, they broke the first opening.
Cold air entered.
The gap was barely wide enough to crawl through.
One officer went first.
Emma followed.
The passage beyond sloped toward the cliffs behind the palace.
Ortiz came last carrying the evidence drive.
The monitoring room alarm grew louder behind them.
A spark ignited the gas.
The explosion threw heat through the broken wall.
The tunnel shook.
Dust filled Emma’s mouth.
A section of ceiling collapsed behind Ortiz.
The detective fell.
Emma crawled back.
Ortiz’s leg was trapped beneath a beam.
“Leave me.”
“No.”
“The tunnel may collapse.”
“You came into that room because of my case.”
“I came because it was evidence.”
Emma pushed against the beam.
It did not move.
The officer ahead returned.
Together, they lifted it enough for Ortiz to pull free.
They crawled toward the cliff exit.
Behind them, the palace’s west cellar burned.
Fire crews reached the exterior tunnel moments after the team emerged.
Ortiz’s ankle was broken.
Emma’s hands were cut.
The evidence drive survived.
The monitoring-room files revealed more than staged medical footage.
Vanessa had recorded board members accepting bribes.
Guests using drugs.
Politicians discussing private deals.
Employees breaking rules under pressure.
She held leverage over half the people attending the gala.
That explained the laughter.
Some guests laughed because they approved of cruelty.
Others laughed because Vanessa had trained them to fear becoming the next target.
The monitoring system also captured Hale entering the tunnels that morning.
He carried a small medical cooler.
He met Vanessa’s private driver near the north stairwell.
The driver handed him a passport and cash.
Then Hale said something that changed the case.
“The old woman cannot reach the hearing alive.”
The driver asked whether Vanessa approved.
Hale answered.
“She designed the dose.”
Eleanor remained in the hospital.
Someone inside the medical staff might still carry Vanessa’s final instructions.
Alexander called the hospital security director.
No one answered.
Emma looked at the live feed stored on the drive.
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One camera showed a nurse entering Eleanor’s room with a syringe.
The timestamp was current.
