Chapter 8: The Woman Who Buried Two Men
I couldn't stop staring at my mother's signature.
It was unmistakable. The capital E curved upward exactly as it did on birthday cards and Christmas notes she'd written throughout my childhood.
My mother had certified my father's death.
But the man in the hotel footage had been alive six years ago.
"How could she do this?"" I whispered.
Mr. Harrison removed his glasses.
"Eleanor may have believed she was protecting you.""
"Everyone keeps saying that.""
I pushed away from the desk.
"Protecting me from what? My own father? My inheritance? The truth about the man I almost married?""
No one answered.
I walked to the window and pressed my palms against the cold glass.
Outside, relatives were leaving the funeral home beneath umbrellas. Their faces were solemn. Some carried flowers. Others carried foil-covered dishes for the gathering at my mother's house.
They were grieving a woman they thought they knew.
I was discovering that I might never have known her at all.
Alexander came to stand beside me.
"I've asked my legal team to verify the death certificate. If the identification was falsified, there should be a paper trail.""
"How long?""
"A few hours for preliminary records. Longer if the files were deliberately concealed.""
I turned toward him.
"And if my father is alive?""
"Then we'll find him.""
His certainty should have comforted me. Instead, it frightened me.
Because Alexander Whitmore was a man who made things happen.
And my mother had specifically instructed her attorney not to give him the complete file.
I looked back at the desk.
"Mr. Harrison, I want to see everything Mom left behind. Every letter.
Every document. Every photograph.""
The attorney nodded.
"There's a storage box at my office containing her personal papers. I can arrange to have it brought here.""
"Today.""
"Of course.""
Stephanie sat hunched in her chair, twisting a tissue between her fingers.
I approached her.
"Tell me what Mom said when she showed you the footage.""
She shook her head.
"I can't.""
"You can.""
"Claire, please.""
"Did she say Richard was alive?""
Stephanie hesitated.
Then she nodded.
My chest tightened.
"When?""
"Six years ago. After you left for Chicago.""
"Why didn't you tell me?""
"Because Mom said he wasn't the same man anymore. She said he had become dangerous.""
"Did she know where he was?""
"I don't know.""
I stared at her.
"You're lying.""
Her face crumpled.
"She said he was living under another name. That's all I knew.""
Nathan shifted uncomfortably.
Stephanie noticed.
"Tell her," she demanded.
He looked at her.
"Not here.""
"Tell her now!""
I turned toward him.
"What does he know?""
Nathan rubbed his face.
"My father told me Richard had been involved in the company for years. He said Richard helped establish several holding companies and moved money between them. When Daniel threatened to expose him, Richard disappeared.""
"Why would my father do business with your father?""
"Because they were partners.""
The word echoed in my head.
My father and Daniel Cole had been partners.
One had raised me. The other had fathered me.
And both men had apparently built their lives around lies.
"What happened the night Daniel died?"" I asked.
Nathan looked toward the laptop.
"Richard went to the hotel to retrieve documents. Daniel had been threatening to expose their arrangement. They argued, and Richard left with a briefcase.""
"Was Daniel alive when Richard left?""
"Yes.""
"Then who entered the room afterward?""
Nathan's lips parted, but no sound emerged.
Stephanie answered for him.
"My mother.""
I turned so quickly that my chair scraped against the floor.
"Eleanor?""
Stephanie nodded.
"She went to the hotel after Nathan called her. She said she needed to make sure Daniel couldn't hurt anyone else.""
My heart pounded.
"What does that mean?""
"I don't know! I swear I don't know!""
Nathan suddenly slammed his palm against the desk.
"Stop it, Stephanie!""
She recoiled.
"No! You told me we would never have to talk about this again!""
"Because we don't know what happened!""
"But you know what you did!""
The room went silent.
I stared at Nathan.
"What did you do?""
He looked as though he might collapse.
Alexander stepped forward.
"Answer her.""
Nathan's shoulders sagged.
"I went to the hotel after Stephanie called me. Daniel was already unconscious when I arrived. I checked his pulse, but I couldn't feel anything.""
I gripped the desk.
"You found your father dead?""
"I thought he was dead.""
"Did you call the police?""
"No.""
"Why?""
"Because I found the documents in his briefcase. I thought if I reported what I'd seen, the financial investigation would expose everything.""
I felt sick.
"So you took the documents and left him there?""
Nathan began crying.
"I was twenty-nine years old. I panicked.""
"You were old enough to marry me. Old enough to promise me forever. But not old enough to call for help?""
He covered his face.
"I know.""
For the first time, Stephanie looked at him with disgust rather than devotion.
"You told me you'd never entered the room.""
"I was trying to protect us!""
"You were trying to protect yourself!""
Alexander placed the laptop on the desk.
"There's still a gap in the timeline. We need the complete footage before drawing conclusions.""
Mr. Harrison's phone rang.
He listened for several seconds, then looked at me.
"The records office has located an additional document connected to your father's death certificate.""
"What is it?""
"A life insurance claim filed three weeks after the reported accident.""
My stomach dropped.
"Who received the money?""
The attorney looked at the paperwork.
"Your mother.""
I closed my eyes.
Mom had buried a husband, concealed his possible survival, and collected money for his death.
But the attorney wasn't finished.
"The claim also included a beneficiary designation naming Claire Wilson as the sole recipient of a separate account.""
I opened my eyes.
"How much?""
He turned the document toward me.
The amount was more than four million dollars.
Almost exactly the value of Aunt Margaret's trust.
May you like
And beneath the account number was a note in my mother's handwriting.
Transfer only after Richard's return.
