Chapter 14 - The Woman on the Telephone)
Elizabeth Ward had not left a message.
That was the first problem.
The second was that she had called Eleanor's private home number.
A number not listed publicly.
The third was what she told the officer who answered.
Tell Eleanor the sister is alive.
Brooks traced the call to a pay phone outside a bus terminal.
Security footage showed a woman wearing a hooded coat.
Her face remained hidden.
Daniel brought the red folder to investigators.
Federal agents joined the case by afternoon.
Martin began negotiating formally.
Sybil remained in custody for kidnapping, unlawful confinement, financial crimes and several other charges.
She did not deny them.
That mattered to Daniel.
Not enough for forgiveness.
But enough to make him believe her fear of Vale was genuine.
The main truth was finally clear.
Sybil had helped Rebecca investigate the Hale Foundation in 2019.
After Rebecca died, Sybil infiltrated Daniel's life partly to protect Winnie and partly to continue searching.
Over time, she fell in love with Daniel.
She also became trapped by Martin and the financial network.
When Eleanor discovered the fraud and evidence of Vale's survival, Sybil panicked.
She drugged Eleanor and locked her in the attic.
No justification changed that.
She had committed a terrible crime.
But she had not killed Rebecca.
At least investigators found no evidence that she had.
Martin confirmed Vale had been near the crash site.
Old traffic footage confirmed a second vehicle.
The investigation into Rebecca's death reopened officially.
For Daniel, that was both painful and strangely peaceful.
For seven years he had treated Rebecca's death as meaningless chance.
Now there might be answers.
At home, Winnie returned to school.
Eleanor moved into a downstairs guest suite while she regained strength.
The attic hatch was repaired.
Daniel removed the ladder.
Not because he wanted to hide anything.
Because Winnie had proven she would climb anything if she thought someone needed help.
Three weeks after the rescue, Daniel prepared dinner.
Just himself, Winnie and Eleanor.
No formal guests.
No foundation board.
No dark green tablecloth.
Winnie looked toward the ceiling.
"Do you think there is anyone else up there?"
Daniel almost choked on his water.
Eleanor laughed.
"No."
"You sure?"
"Very."
Winnie considered it.
"Good."
Daniel looked at his daughter.
"I owe you an apology."
"For what?"
"For not believing you."
Winnie shrugged.
"You believed me eventually."
"That is not the same."
She continued eating.
Daniel smiled faintly.
Children sometimes understood forgiveness better than adults.
Later that evening, Brooks arrived.
"We found Vale."
Daniel stood.
"Alive?"
"Maybe."
"Maybe?"
Brooks placed a file on the table.
"A passport under the name Arthur Vane entered Canada six months ago. Facial recognition gives an eighty nine percent match."
"Where is he now?"
"Unknown."
Eleanor asked, "Elizabeth Ward?"
"Nothing."
Brooks looked at Daniel.
"We also examined Rebecca's car again."
"After seven years?"
"It was held by the insurance company for litigation, then transferred to storage."
Daniel waited.
"We found paint fragments not documented in the original report."
"From Vale's SUV?"
"Likely."
Daniel closed his eyes.
It was the closest they had come to proof.
Brooks continued.
"There is more."
Of course there was.
"There was a small recording device beneath the driver's seat."
Daniel stared.
"Rebecca recorded herself?"
"We recovered partial audio."
Brooks handed Daniel headphones.
The recording began with rain.
Wipers.
Rebecca breathing.
Then her voice.
"If anything happens to me, Adrian is behind me."
Daniel froze.
Rebecca continued.
"Sybil tried to warn me. Martin gave him the route."
Then a vehicle horn.
Rebecca gasped.
Tires screeched.
The recording became chaotic.
A male voice sounded faintly through Rebecca's car speaker.
Not physically inside the vehicle.
A phone call.
Daniel increased the volume.
Rebecca shouted.
"You will never get my daughter."
A man's voice answered.
"We do not need your daughter."
Daniel looked at Brooks.
The recording continued.
"We need the child she will have."
Daniel removed the headphones.
"Winnie."
Brooks nodded.
Rebecca had known.
Before the crash.
Vale's organization already knew Winnie would matter.
But Winnie had been two years old.
Daniel replayed the words.
We need the child she will have.
Something did not fit.
Rebecca already had Winnie.
Why speak in the future tense?
Unless the man was not talking about Rebecca.
Daniel listened again.
The audio before that sentence was damaged.
A fragment emerged.
Sarah.
Daniel froze.
"Play it slower."
Brooks adjusted the file.
Rebecca's voice became clearer.
"You will never get Sarah's daughter."
Then Vale.
"We do not need her daughter. We need the child she will have."
Daniel's hands went numb.
The conversation had not been about Winnie.
It had been about someone else.
Sarah's daughter.
Rebecca's missing twin had apparently had a child.
That child was now old enough to have a child of her own.
Eleanor whispered, "Then Winnie was never the target."
Daniel looked at her.
"Maybe."
Winnie entered the room holding a piece of paper.
"Dad?"
Daniel immediately closed the laptop.
"What is it?"
"I found this in my backpack."
"From school?"
"I do not know."
She handed it to him.
There was no writing.
Only a photograph.
A girl stood outside a school.
Around Winnie's age.
Red hair.
High ponytail.
Rust colored coat.
For one terrible second Daniel thought he was looking at Winnie.
Then he noticed differences.
Different eyes.
Different nose.
Different school.
On the back was a sentence.
H2 has two branches.
Daniel looked at Brooks.
Brooks took out his phone.
Winnie asked, "Who is she?"
Daniel stared at the unknown girl's face.
"I do not know."
But Eleanor did.
Her hand covered her mouth.
Daniel turned.
"Mom?"
Eleanor pointed toward the photograph.
"I saw that child before."
"Where?"
"In the attic."
Daniel went still.
"What do you mean?"
"Sybil brought photographs when she questioned me."
"You never told me."
"I thought they were random."
"Was this one of them?"
"No."
Eleanor's voice trembled.
"The girl was younger."
Daniel leaned closer.
"Then how do you know it was her?"
"Because she was standing beside her mother."
"Who?"
May you like
Eleanor looked toward Rebecca's hidden red folder.
"The woman looked exactly like Rebecca."
