Chapter 11: The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Evelyn didn't lower her weapon.
“Whoever is outside claims to be Margaret Ellis,” she said.
“She's asking specifically for you and Catherine.””
I looked at my wife.
“Are you certain Margaret is dead?””
Catherine nodded, breathing rapidly.
“I attended her funeral. Her son identified the body.””
“Then who is outside?””
“I don't know.””
Evelyn spoke into her radio.
“Keep the visitor in the foyer. Nobody allows her upstairs.””
We climbed out of the archive and returned to the study. Two officers stood beside the entrance, where an elderly woman waited in a gray coat.
Her hair was shorter than I remembered. Her face looked thinner, and a deep scar ran beneath her chin.
But when she lifted her eyes, I recognized her.
“Margaret?””
She looked at me and began to cry.
“I'm sorry, Richard.””
I couldn't move.
“You were dead.””
“I know what they told you.””
“You had a funeral.””
“They buried someone else.””
Catherine stepped forward.
“Who?””
Margaret looked at her, and the fear on her face was immediate.
“The woman who helped me disappear.””
Catherine shook her head.
“You were the person who told Martin where we were. You betrayed us.””
Margaret flinched.
“Yes.””
The word was so simple that it silenced the room.
“I gave him information about your movements,” Margaret continued.
“I thought I was preventing a custody dispute. He told me you planned to take Lily and leave Richard with nothing.””
“That was a lie,” Catherine said.
“I know that now.””
“You knew us for twenty years!””
Margaret bowed her head.
“I know.””
Catherine stepped closer, her voice rising.
“You watched Lily grow up. You held her when she was sick. You helped me choose her first school. How could you tell those people where we were?””
Margaret began to sob.
“Because they threatened my son.””
She reached into her coat and pulled out an old photograph.
A young man stood beside a pickup truck, smiling at the camera.
“Martin told me that if I refused, my son would be arrested for a crime he didn't commit. He showed me photographs of him leaving work. He knew where he lived, where he ate, even which bus he took home.””
She looked at me.
“I thought I could give Martin harmless information and keep everyone safe. I was wrong.””
I stared at the photograph.
“Where is your son now?””
“Alive, but in hiding. I haven't spoken to him in months.””
Evelyn took the photograph and handed it to one of the officers.
“We'll verify everything you tell us. Until then, you stay where we can see you.””
Margaret nodded.
“I expected that.””
She turned toward me.
“Richard, Martin knows you've found the archive. He has people watching the house, and he knows Catherine is alive.””
“How?””
“He has access to the police dispatch system. He knows which officers have been assigned to this case.””
Evelyn's jaw tightened.
“That's an accusation.””
“It's a fact,” Margaret replied.
“I saw him access the system myself.””
She removed a small flash drive from her pocket.
“I copied his files before I disappeared. The records show payments to officers, judges, and private investigators. They also show where he moved the money after Catherine vanished.””
I took the drive.
“Why come back now?””
“Because Martin has decided to eliminate everyone who knows the truth.””
She looked at Catherine.
“He sent Daniel to kill you tonight.””
Catherine went still.
“Daniel told us he was trying to protect us.””
“He may have been, at first. But Martin has his wife and son.””
I remembered the photograph of Daniel's family.
“Where are they?””
Margaret shook her head.
“I don't know. Martin keeps them in separate locations so Daniel can't betray him.””
Catherine sat heavily in a chair.
“Then Daniel wasn't lying when he said he was afraid.””
“No,” Margaret replied.
“But fear doesn't make him innocent.””
She turned to me again.
“Richard, there's something else. Martin isn't just trying to recover the ledger. He's trying to find a woman named Rebecca Shaw.””
The name meant nothing to me.
“Who is she?””
“An accountant. She worked for your father before the network became corrupt. She created the original financial records and kept copies of every transaction.””
“Where is she?””
“Somewhere in Georgia. Martin has been searching for her for three years.””
Evelyn took out her phone.
“Do you have an address?””
Margaret shook her head.
“But I have a number. She called me yesterday. She said she had proof that could bring the entire operation down.””
“Why didn't she contact the police?””
“Because the last time she did, the officer assigned to her case was found dead two days later.””
The room fell silent.
I looked at Evelyn.
“Can we protect her?””
“If we find her before Martin does.””
Margaret handed Evelyn a folded note.
“Rebecca said that if Richard ever found the archive, I should tell him to look inside the blue ledger. She said the evidence was hidden in the original account numbers.””
I remembered the thick book in my father's chamber.
We returned downstairs with Margaret under police escort. I opened the ledger and began turning its yellowed pages.
At first, I saw nothing unusual.
Columns of numbers. Dates. Company names.
Then I noticed the initials written beside several transactions.
M.C.
V.H.
D.M.
And one more.
R.W.
My own initials.
I traced them with my finger.
“These are my authorizations.””
Margaret leaned over the desk.
“Not all of them.””
“What do you mean?””
“Some were copied from your genuine signatures. Others were created after your father died.””
I turned another page.
Near the back of the ledger was a list of payments marked with a red line.
One recipient had been paid almost four million dollars over three years.
The name beside the account number was Rebecca Shaw.
But the final transaction was dated only two weeks ago.
I stared at the page.
“Rebecca is still receiving money.””
Margaret shook her head.
“Not anymore. That account was closed after the last payment.””
“Who closed it?””
She pointed to the authorization.
My stomach dropped.
The signature belonged to Catherine.
I turned toward my wife.
“Why is your signature on this account?””
Catherine stared at the page in disbelief.
“I never signed that.””
Margaret leaned closer.
“Then someone has been using your identity.””
Evelyn's phone rang.
She answered, listened for several seconds, then looked directly at me.
“Richard, we have a location for Rebecca Shaw.””
“Where?””
“An abandoned medical office in Marietta. Police found a woman there an hour ago.””
“Is she alive?””
Evelyn swallowed.
“They haven't confirmed her identity yet.””
“Then why are you looking at me like that?””
“Because the woman has been dead for at least three days.””
My hands went cold.
The officer continued.
“There's a message written on the wall beside her body.””
“What does it say?””
Evelyn hesitated.
Then she read the words aloud.
*ASK CATHERINE WHO REBECCA REALLY WAS.*
I turned toward my wife.
May you like
She was staring at the ledger as if it had begun to bleed.
And when she finally looked up, I realized she knew exactly who Rebecca Shaw was.
