Chapter 11 - The Scar
Walter touched the scar.
“I received this when I was six. I fell from a wall.”
“Who told you that?” Claire asked.
“My father.”
“What do you remember?”
“Nothing.”
Melissa moved closer.
“Are you the second heir?”
Walter laughed nervously.
“I am Thomas’s brother. Why would he hide me inside a trust?”
“Half brother,” Claire said.
Walter stared at her.
“What?”
Claire approached him slowly.
“Thomas’s father was listed as your father on your birth certificate, but I found inconsistencies during the historical title review. Your original hospital record was sealed.”
Walter shook his head.
“No.”
“Thomas asked me never to investigate further.”
“So you obeyed?”
“I had already learned what secrets could do.”
Walter looked at Evelyn.
“You knew I was adopted?”
“No.”
He walked toward the door.
Evelyn caught his arm.
“Walter.”
“Do not pity me.”
“I don’t.”
“I have spent my entire life believing this farm was the one place where I belonged.”
“You do belong here.”
“Because Thomas allowed it?”
“Because you worked this land for forty years.”
Walter pulled away.
“Work does not create blood.”
“No,” Evelyn said. “But blood has created nothing except misery.”
He stopped at the doorway.
Daniel spoke from behind him.
“If you are the second heir, Bellweather will come after you.”
Walter looked back.
“They already did.”
The meaning was clear.
His manipulated debt had not been accidental.
Bellweather knew, or suspected, that Walter’s identity mattered.
Claire opened Samuel Reed’s death article on her laptop.
“Samuel lived under the name Peter Hale. We need access to his belongings before Bellweather removes them.”
“The police will have them,” Daniel said.
“Possibly. But if no crime was suspected, personal items may have gone to the landlord or public administrator.”
Evelyn looked at Melissa.
“Did Bellweather mention Samuel Reed?”
Melissa shook her head.
“Did your mother?”
“She once said a man named Samuel paid her to sign a statement about Margaret.”
“What statement?”
“I never saw it.”
Claire looked alarmed.
“Samuel may have fabricated evidence showing Margaret renounced Eleanor’s claim.”
“Would that invalidate Rose’s interest?” Daniel asked.
“Perhaps not legally, but it could delay recognition for years.”
Evelyn took Thomas’s photograph from the desk.
“Rose knew about the scar.”
“She had the notebook and possibly other instructions,” Claire said. “If we find her, she can identify Walter.”
Walter turned back.
“And if I am not the heir?”
“Then someone else carries the scar.”
A police officer entered the study.
“Mrs. Ashbourne, we need to speak to Daniel.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Why?”
The officer held up a clear evidence bag containing a fuel receipt.
“This was found in Nathan Cole’s vehicle. The purchase was made using a business card registered to Daniel Ashbourne.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“I told you it was fabricated.”
“There is also surveillance footage.”
“Showing me?”
“Showing your vehicle.”
Melissa covered her mouth.
Daniel turned toward her.
“Who had access?”
She looked away.
“Melissa.”
“I borrowed your car several times.”
“Did you buy the fuel?”
“No.”
“Did you give the car to Bellweather?”
“No.”
The officer continued.
“We need you to come to the station voluntarily.”
Evelyn stepped between them.
“My son did not start the fire.”
“We are not arresting him at this time.”
“At this time,” Daniel repeated.
Claire gathered her papers.
“I’ll accompany him.”
As Daniel prepared to leave, Melissa approached.
“I can explain the card.”
He did not look at her.
“Then explain it to the police.”
She touched his sleeve.
He pulled away.
After Daniel and Claire left, Evelyn found Walter in the courtyard.
He stared toward the northern pasture.
“Thomas knew,” he said.
“Perhaps.”
“He knew I was not his brother.”
“You do not know that.”
“He hid my records.”
“Maybe to protect you.”
Walter laughed bitterly.
“That excuse has served this family well.”
Evelyn stood beside him.
“What would you do if the farm belonged to you?”
“Give it back.”
“To whom?”
“To you.”
“It may never have been mine.”
“You kept it alive.”
“So did you.”
He looked at her.
“If Bellweather knew about my scar, why wait until now?”
“Because they needed Rose to confirm your identity.”
“Or eliminate it.”
A vehicle approached the house.
Not a police car.
A taxi stopped beside the front steps.
A woman emerged.
She wore a nurse’s uniform beneath a dark coat and carried a small suitcase.
Evelyn did not recognize her.
The woman walked directly toward Walter.
“Mr. Ashbourne?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Hannah Reed. Samuel Reed was my father.”
Walter glanced at Evelyn.
Hannah removed a sealed envelope from her coat.
“He left instructions that this should be delivered when the cider barn burned.”
Evelyn stared at her.
“How could he know that would happen?”
May you like
Hannah looked toward the damaged barn.
“Because he helped Bellweather plan it.”
