Free Echoes of Titanic by Mindy Starns Clark Page B

gloves, a white fur hand muff, and a blue velvet hat with a pale blue hatband. Other memorabilia had been acquired later by Kelsey’s father and added around the clothing, including a cup and saucer from the White Star Line, a menu from Titanic ’s second-class dining room, and a White Star pen and stationery. Front and center were two books: a copy of Adele’s memoir of Titanic , that she’d had printed in a limited quantity, and the white leather-bound Bible given to her by her husband on their wedding day.
    Kelsey had been just ten or eleven years old the first time she had seen this display, and she hadn’t liked it at all. Something about the dressmaker’s dummy—bearing the same height and dimensions as Adele herself when she’d been alive—looked all too real, like the headless ghost of a woman who had died while dressed for a cold night in 1912. Over the years, however, it had grown on her, and these days she actually looked upon the display fondly, as if it embodied the very spirit and nature of Adele herself. Gazing at it now, Kelsey couldn’t help but remember the accusation that Rupert had made this afternoon, that the woman who called herself Adele had actually been a cousin merely posing as Adele. No matter what “proof” he thought he had of that claim, Kelsey knew it wouldn’t bear out. She was one hundred percent sure Adele had been exactly who she’d said she was. This temporary besmirching of her name would pass, and all Rupert Brennan would end up proving was that he was in need of serious help.
    Moving on through the reception area, Kelsey entered the same hallway she’d walked down earlier today and followed it to the executive suite. She saw that everything looked closed down except for Gloria’s office, which was fully lit up. She went there now, hoping to see the woman sitting at her desk, but the room was empty. Kelsey stepped inside anyway, looking for a note or something that might indicate where Gloria had gone. She saw nothing of relevance on the desktop, so she took a peek in the lower desk drawers just to see if Gloria’s purse was there. It was, in the left bottom drawer. Good. That meant she was still somewhere in the building—unless she’d accidentally gone home without it, just as Kelsey had.
    Coming back to the doorway, Kelsey called out Gloria’s name, but therewas no reply. Fearing she really was ill, as she’d told Walter earlier, Kelsey went from there to the executive washroom to see if Gloria was inside.
    She was not.
    From there Kelsey made a quick tour of the rest of the fifth floor, peeking in the copy room, the meeting rooms, and several offices, but most everything was dark. As she neared the far end of the hall, Kelsey wondered if maybe Gloria could be in her office on the fourth floor, though she couldn’t imagine why. At the very least, perhaps she’d left a note there for Kelsey or sent a text or voice mail that had more information about where she was now.
    Kelsey ended her search of the fifth floor near the executive conference room, so she decided to take the stairs down to the fourth floor rather than going all the way back to the elevator bay. She’d already checked the conference room earlier on her hunt for Gloria, but one peek had showed her it was dark and not in use. This time, however, she flipped on the light as she went inside so she wouldn’t bump a hip or a shin as she cut through to the back stairwell.
    She’d taken several steps across the well-lit room before she froze, realizing that someone was in there.
    In a moment that turned seconds into hours, she simply stood and stared, trying to make sense of what she was seeing at the other end of the room.
    On the wide expanse of wall, the metal covering for the projection screen hung crooked, its cord dropped down from the lower side. At the other end of that cord hung the body of a person. A