Chapter Three: The Dead Woman in the Ring

His smile froze. Adrian immediately checked the White Tern archive. July sixteenth was the date of the fire. Evelyn’s father, missing for years, had been the crewman responsible for the wedding’s master recordings. The clues had not merely survived for twelve years. Someone had spent all twelve years erasing witnesses. Near dawn, Mira returned to her office. A white envelope lay on her desk, though neither lock nor camera had been disturbed. Inside was a photograph of Mira in a wedding gown at the unopened Cloudshore chapel. On the back, someone had written: YOU CAN SAVE OTHER BRIDES. CAN YOU SAVE YOURSELF? She turned it over again. In the glass behind her photographed figure stood a blurred reflection, raising a gun.