Chapter 4 - The Woman in the Photograph
Ethan could not stop thinking about those words.
Twenty years.
Why twenty years?
That evening, he searched through old family photographs.
Vanessa watched him from the sofa.
“What are you looking for?”
“Nothing.”
She laughed.
“You've been saying that all day.”
Ethan opened another box.
Inside were photographs from his childhood.
Birthdays.
Christmas.
School events.
Soccer games.
His mother.
His father.
But there were gaps.
Large gaps.
Years with almost no photographs.
Ethan frowned.
“Where is Mom's old album?”
Vanessa looked up.
“I don't know.”
“You threw it away?”
“No.”
“You sure?”
Vanessa's expression tightened.
“Why are you suddenly obsessed with old pictures?”
“Dad said something.”
“What?”
“He said I should have asked where the money came from twenty years ago.”
Vanessa became very still.
Ethan noticed.
“You know something.”
“No.”
“You do.”
“I said no.”
Ethan stood.
“Vanessa.”
She walked into the kitchen.
“I don't know what your father is trying to do.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means he is manipulating you.”
Ethan followed her.
“You're avoiding the question.”
“Because there is no question.”
She opened a cabinet.
Ethan watched her hands.
They were trembling slightly.
That was when he knew.
There was something she was afraid of.
Later that night, Ethan went into the garage.
He found an old box labeled Family.
Inside was a newspaper clipping.
He unfolded it.
The headline was partially torn.
Only one sentence remained readable.
LOCAL BUSINESSMAN DISAPPEARS AFTER FAMILY DISPUTE
Below it was a photograph.
A man Ethan had never seen before.
Except he had.
He had seen that face in the old photograph Walter was holding.
Ethan stared.
He flipped the clipping over.
There was handwriting.
Ask Walter about Michael.
Ethan's heart began pounding.
Michael.
Who was Michael?
He searched online.
The name led to dozens of people.
But one result made him freeze.
Michael Hayes.
Owner of Hayes Construction.
Ethan read the short article.
Michael Hayes had vanished in 1986.
His business had been transferred to another party shortly afterward.
Ethan stared at the screen.
Hayes Construction.
His father's surname.
His grandfather's name.
He kept reading.
Then he found another detail.
Michael Hayes had a wife named Margaret.
Ethan's mother.
He pushed his chair back.
“No.”
The pieces refused to fit.
His mother had died when he was seventeen.
His father had always told him she had left the family after a difficult marriage.
But the article suggested something else.
Ethan ran upstairs.
“Vanessa!”
She came out of the bedroom.
“What?”
“Who was Michael?”
Her face went pale.
Ethan saw it.
“You know.”
Vanessa looked toward the stairs.
Then she whispered.
“Where did you find that name?”
Ethan stared at her.
“Who was he?”
Before she could answer, a knock came at the front door.
Both of them froze.
Ethan opened it.
Walter stood outside.
He held an envelope.
“Ethan.”
“What?”
Walter looked at Vanessa.
Then back at his son.
“You found the article.”
Ethan's stomach dropped.
“You knew?”
Walter nodded.
“For years.”
“Who was Michael?”
Walter's eyes moved toward the house across the street.
May you like
Then he said quietly,
“He was the man your mother believed I killed.”
