Chapter 3 - The Woman Who Remembered)
Claire put the phone on speaker.
Daniel heard the sentence.
He looked at her sharply.
"What do you mean she didn't die at the cottage?" Claire asked.
Susan Hale hesitated.
"I mean she was alive when they took her away."
Margaret had always been told Anna died almost immediately after falling down the stairs.
Susan said otherwise.
She had been eleven years old at the time.
Her family owned the property across Lake Briar.
That evening Susan had been biking home when she saw Robert carrying Anna from the Bennett cottage.
Anna was unconscious.
But Susan saw her move.
"I heard her crying," Susan said.
Daniel gripped the wheel.
"What happened next?"
"A man helped your father put her in a car."
"What man?"
"I didn't know him."
"Police?"
"No."
"Doctor?"
"I don't know."
Claire looked at the road ahead.
Rachel's vehicle turned onto Lake Briar Road.
"Why are you telling me this now?"
Susan was silent.
"Because somebody came to my house yesterday."
Claire's skin prickled.
"Who?"
"A woman. Late thirties. Yellow sweater."
Rachel.
"What did she want?"
"She asked whether I still remembered the Bennett girl."
Daniel and Claire exchanged a look.
"What did you say?"
"I told her I didn't know what she was talking about."
"Then what?"
"She offered me money."
Daniel swore.
Susan continued.
"When I refused, she asked whether I had children."
Claire closed her eyes.
Rachel had threatened her.
"Did you call the police?"
"I called someone I trust. Then I searched your name. I found your number connected to your design business."
Claire owned a small interior restoration company.
Her business number was public.
"Why now?" Claire asked.
Susan's voice trembled.
"Because I've been ashamed for twenty-nine years."
"Of what?"
"I saw something else."
Ahead, Rachel turned again.
The road narrowed.
Susan said, "When your father carried Anna outside, there was blood on her dress."
Claire swallowed.
"From the fall?"
"No."
"How do you know?"
"Because it wasn't on her head."
Susan's breath shook.
"It was on her back."
The call ended shortly afterward.
Claire stared at the screen.
Daniel said nothing.
They reached the cottage at 4:43 p.m.
Rachel's car stood in the gravel driveway.
The cottage looked smaller than Claire remembered.
White siding.
Dark green shutters.
A porch sagging slightly near one corner.
Behind it stood the old storage building.
The one that had always been locked.
Rachel was nowhere outside.
Daniel parked behind her.
"Stay here."
Claire gave him a look.
He sighed.
"Fine. But don't do anything stupid."
"I'm on a crutch."
"That has never stopped you."
Under different circumstances she would have smiled.
They approached the cottage.
The front door was open.
Inside, furniture sat beneath dusty sheets.
Claire smelled smoke.
Daniel smelled it too.
They followed it toward the back.
Rachel was kneeling beside the fireplace.
Papers burned inside.
Daniel crossed the room and yanked her backward.
"What are you doing?"
Rachel screamed.
"Get off me!"
Claire grabbed the fireplace poker and pulled the burning documents apart.
Daniel stomped the flames.
One page was destroyed.
Another half burned.
A third remained readable.
It bore a hospital logo.
ST. JOSEPH MEDICAL CENTER.
Patient: Anna Bennett.
Age: 7.
Date of admission matched the night of the supposed accident.
Claire scanned downward.
Multiple contusions.
Ligature bruising.
Previous healing fracture, left radius.
Possible chronic trauma.
Daniel read over her shoulder.
His face changed completely.
Those injuries did not come from a single fall.
Rachel backed away.
"You don't understand."
Daniel turned.
"You keep saying that."
Rachel's eyes filled.
"Your father made mistakes."
"Mistakes?"
"He was different then."
Daniel held up the report.
"This says Anna had old injuries."
Rachel looked toward Claire.
"I was trying to protect your mother."
Claire stared at her.
"By burning evidence?"
"By protecting all of you."
"From what?"
Rachel laughed shakily.
"You think Robert is the worst thing in this family?"
Silence.
Daniel stepped closer.
"What does that mean?"
Rachel looked at the storage building behind the cottage.
Claire followed her gaze.
The second brass key from the red box suddenly felt heavy in her pocket.
Rachel saw Claire touch it.
"No."
Claire pulled it out.
Rachel's expression became pure panic.
"Do not open that building."
Daniel looked between them.
"Why?"
Rachel shook her head.
"You'll regret it."
Claire limped toward the back door.
Rachel grabbed her arm.
Daniel pulled Rachel away.
"Don't touch her."
Claire crossed the yard.
The storage building door was weathered gray wood.
A rusted lock hung from a metal latch.
She inserted the key.
It turned.
Inside was darkness.
Daniel used his phone flashlight.
The room contained old gardening equipment, wooden shelves, fishing poles, paint cans.
Nothing unusual.
Then Claire noticed scratches in the floor.
A rectangular outline beneath an old cabinet.
Daniel helped move it.
Underneath was a trapdoor.
Rachel stood at the entrance.
"Please."
It was the first time Claire had ever heard Rachel beg.
Daniel opened the trapdoor.
Cold air rose from below.
Wooden steps descended into darkness.
Claire stared.
The cottage was supposed to have no basement under the storage building.
Daniel went first.
Claire followed slowly.
At the bottom was a small concrete room.
One chair.
One narrow bed frame.
A rusted chain bolted to the wall.
Claire stopped.
Daniel whispered, "Jesus Christ."
On the wall were pencil marks.
Hundreds.
Some were simple lines.
Others formed letters.
A N N A.
Claire covered her mouth.
Daniel stood frozen.
Then his flashlight moved toward the opposite wall.
There were more names.
Not one.
Six.
Anna.
Emily.
Rose.
Megan.
Lucy.
And one final name written much later than the others.
Claire.
Daniel turned toward his sister.
Claire stared at her own name on the wall.
Behind them, Rachel whispered from the stairs.
"That's why I tried to burn the files."
Claire looked at her.
May you like
Rachel's face was wet with tears.
"Because Anna wasn't the only girl they brought here."
