Chapter 2 - Eleven Months After the Funeral
Daniel locked the front door after his relatives left.
No shouting.
That frightened Elena more.
He placed receipt on coffee table.
“Start talking.”
Elena stared at Sarah instead.
“This is because of you.”
Sarah almost laughed.
“You dragged me across the floor and accused me of stealing money.”
“I was trying to keep you from destroying this family.”
“By framing me?”
Daniel interrupted.
“Enough.”
He enlarged photograph of receipt.
The printed withdrawal date was April 17, 2018.
Robert Morgan officially died May 22, 2017.
The handwriting on back appeared to say:
ROBERT MORGAN — ROOM 214.
Elena finally admitted she had gone to Briarwood Motor Lodge that day.
“With Dad?” Daniel asked.
“No.”
“Then why is his name there?”
“I can't tell you yet.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“You don't get to decide that anymore.”
Sarah asked about thousand dollars.
Elena claimed it was paid to someone at motel.
Who?
“A man who knew your father.”
Name?
She refused.
Daniel called bank.
Receipt was genuine.
Account was Elena’s.
Withdrawal occurred exactly as printed.
But handwritten note could have been added anytime.
So it did not prove Robert survived.
Daniel wanted cemetery exhumation immediately.
Sarah stopped him.
“First find out what receipt actually means.”
It was first time since accusation that Daniel looked at her with something resembling trust.
Then Sarah told him what she overheard.
“He can never know I paid you.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“And you heard the motel part?”
“Yes.”
“What else?”
“Something about everything Robert left Daniel becoming a lie.”
Elena whispered:
“You misunderstood.”
“Then explain it.”
Silence.
Sarah suddenly remembered one more sentence.
The voice on other end of Elena’s call had been loud enough to leak through phone.
A man had said:
“You should've told him before the anniversary.”
Which anniversary?
Robert’s death?
Daniel and Sarah’s wedding?
Something else?
They checked motel.
Briarwood had closed six years earlier.
Records had been transferred to county storage after property dispute.
One surviving guest ledger existed for April 17, 2018.
Room 214 had been occupied.
Guest:
R. MORGAN.
Daniel stared at page.
His father’s name.
Then clerk’s handwritten notation:
IDENTIFICATION VERIFIED.
Sarah looked at Elena.
“You said you weren't meeting Robert.”
“I wasn't.”
“Then who checked in using his ID?”
May you like
Elena whispered:
“Someone who had every legal right to use that name.”
