Chapter 7: The Daughter Who Disappeared
"Your sister knows exactly where she is.""
Opal's words hung in the air.
I looked down at the photograph of Walter.
"Mrs. Hargrove, are you telling me Monica knows where your daughter is?""
Opal shook her head.
"I don't know what Monica knows. But she has information that could explain why my daughter disappeared.""
Daniel pulled a chair closer.
"Opal, we need to start from the beginning.""
She stared at the photograph.
"My daughter's name was Eleanor. She was twenty-six when she vanished.""
"Vanished how?"" I asked.
"She left home one evening and never returned. Her car was found near the Scioto River. The police searched for weeks, but they never found her body.""
"Did they believe she drowned?""
"They believed she had deliberately disappeared.""
"Why?""
Opal's eyes filled.
"Because someone left a letter saying she wanted to start a new life.""
"Was it her handwriting?""
"No.""
The answer came immediately.
Opal opened a drawer and removed a yellowed envelope.
"I received this letter three days after she disappeared. I knew immediately that Eleanor hadn't written it.""
Daniel examined the envelope.
"Why didn't you tell the police?""
"I did. They said grief had affected my judgment.""
She handed me the letter.
It contained only a few sentences.
Mother, please don't look for me. I have made my decision. I need to leave this family behind.
I examined the signature.
"Eleanor.""
"Yes.""
"How do you know it wasn't hers?""
Opal pointed to the final letter.
"She always signed her name with a small circle beneath the final 'r.'' It was something she had done since childhood.""
I looked closely.
The signature was different.
"Who would have known that?""
"Anyone who had access to her personal correspondence.""
Daniel turned toward Opal.
"Was Richard Voss involved?""
She nodded slowly.
"Eleanor discovered something about his financial activities shortly before she disappeared.""
My attention sharpened.
"What did she discover?""
"Richard had been moving money through Walter's company. Eleanor worked in our accounting department. She found transactions that didn't match the invoices.""
"Just like what happened to my company.""
"Exactly.""
Opal stood and walked toward the fireplace.
"Walter wanted to confront Richard. But before he could, Eleanor disappeared.""
"And Walter died seven years ago," Daniel said.
"Yes.""
I looked at the photograph.
"Why did Walter write that message?""
Opal's voice trembled.
"Because he believed Eleanor was still alive.""
Daniel frowned.
"Did he have evidence?""
"Two weeks before he died, he received a telephone call. I heard him say, 'I know she's alive. Tell me where she is.''"
She paused.
"Then he said something I never forgot.""
"What?""
"He said, 'You have taken my money. You have taken my daughter. You will not take my silence.''"
The room became still.
I looked at Daniel.
"Could Richard have killed him?""
"We can't conclude that yet," he replied.
Opal returned to her chair.
"After Walter died, I received an anonymous package. Inside was a photograph of Eleanor standing outside a motel in Kentucky. It had been taken four months after her disappearance.""
"Why didn't you show the police?""
"I did. They said the photograph couldn't be authenticated.""
"Do you still have it?""
Opal nodded.
She opened the bottom drawer of her desk and removed a photograph.
A young woman stood outside a motel entrance.
Her dark hair fell over one shoulder.
She wore a blue coat and held a newspaper.
I stared at the picture.
Something about her face seemed familiar.
Not because I had met her.
Because I had seen her before.
I picked up the photograph.
"Where was this taken?""
"Louisville.""
I turned it over.
There was a date.
Twenty-three years earlier.
Then I noticed something written in the bottom corner.
A motel room number.
214.
Daniel leaned closer.
"Do you recognize the location?""
Opal shook her head.
"No. I've never been there.""
I studied the woman's face again.
Then a memory surfaced.
A photograph from my father's office.
He had kept a picture of himself standing beside a young woman at a company anniversary party.
I had assumed she was one of his employees.
But she looked exactly like the woman in Opal's photograph.
"Mrs. Hargrove, may I ask you something?""
"Of course.""
"Did Eleanor ever work for my father?""
Opal stared at me.
"Your father?""
"Thomas Hale. He owned a small medical supply company before I took over.""
She slowly shook her head.
"Not that I remember.""
I placed both photographs side by side in my mind.
There was too much resemblance to ignore.
Before I could explain, Daniel's phone rang.
He stepped into the hallway to answer it.
When he returned, his expression was grim.
"There's been another development.""
"What now?"" I asked.
"The investigator monitoring Meridian Holdings has found a connection between the account and a residential property in Kentucky.""
"Whose property?""
He looked at Opal.
"Registered under the name Eleanor Voss.""
Opal gripped the armrest.
"That's impossible.""
Daniel opened his laptop.
"The property was purchased eleven years ago. The owner has maintained the same mailing address since then.""
"Where?""
He turned the screen toward us.
Louisville, Kentucky.
The same city as the photograph.
Opal began crying.
"She's alive.""
I reached for her hand.
"Maybe.""
She squeezed my fingers.
Then Daniel enlarged the property record.
There was a second name listed as an authorized representative.
A name I recognized immediately.
Monica Hale.
My sister had been connected to Eleanor's property for eleven years.
And suddenly, I understood why she had been so desperate to keep us away from Opal's records.
May you like
She hadn't simply been hiding stolen money.
She had been hiding a person.
