Chapter 3 - The Photograph Claire Couldn’t Explain
Claire denied being the woman.
She was thirty-two.
In 2004 she would have been ten.
The woman in photograph appeared early twenties.
So resemblance could not mean Claire herself.
David enlarged image.
Same dark hair.
Same eyes.
Same slight scar above eyebrow.
Claire stopped arguing.
“My mother.”
Her mother, Sarah Bennett.
David had met Sarah once before she died.
Claire rarely discussed her.
Sarah had struggled financially, moved frequently and spent Claire’s childhood working administrative jobs.
Apparently one job was for Carter family.
Claire had never told David.
“Why?”
“Because I didn't know until after we were married.”
Sarah’s papers contained pay stubs from Carter Heritage Foundation.
Employer:
Evelyn Carter.
David felt floor shifting beneath him again.
His mother and Claire’s mother knew each other.
What did Sarah do?
Bookkeeping.
Temporary records work.
Why hide it?
Claire claimed Sarah never mentioned Carter name while alive.
After Claire married David, she found old documents and realized connection.
She feared David would think relationship had been engineered.
“Was it?”
“No.”
“Did you know who I was when we met?”
“Of course.”
“Did you marry me because your mother knew mine?”
“No.”
David believed emotion.
But trust was no longer simple.
Police identified unknown man in photograph.
Thomas Vale.
Former accountant for Carter Heritage Foundation.
Missing since 2008.
Not legally dead.
Simply disappeared.
Age now:
sixty-three.
Could he be person beneath floor?
Possibly.
David showed photograph to witness who had seen figure escaping storm cellar.
Description:
older male.
Thin.
Gray hair.
Walking with limp.
Thomas fit.
Why carry Evelyn’s locket?
Foundation records offered first financial clue.
In 2005 Carter Heritage Foundation sold six properties to Carter Development for $3.2 million.
Market value at time approximately $8.7 million.
One property:
Cedar House.
David’s current house.
He had unknowingly bought property once controlled by his mother’s foundation.
Why had father never told him?
Then attorney discovered restriction attached to original deed.
LOWER ACCESS EASEMENT RESERVED TO CEDAR BENEFICIARY TRUST.
The tunnel was legal.
Someone had rights to access it.
Who was Cedar Beneficiary Trust?
No active registration.
But historical document listed trustee:
Evelyn Carter.
And successor:
Sarah Bennett.
Claire’s mother.
David looked at Claire.
May you like
If Sarah inherited trusteeship, then after Sarah’s death—
the next successor might be Claire.
