Chapter 5 - The Mother Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Claire was nine years old when Richard told her that her mother had died.
He had sat beside her bed, removed his glasses and spoken with the careful calm of a man reading a statement prepared by someone else.
There had been an accident on a mountain road.
The vehicle had caught fire.
Identification had been difficult.
The funeral would remain private.
Claire remembered asking whether she could see her mother one last time.
Richard had said it was impossible.
For years, Claire had dreamed of a closed coffin.
Now a passport bearing Anna Bennett’s face lay partially burned in Evelyn’s fireplace.
Detective Bell questioned Richard immediately.
Richard claimed ignorance.
He said Anna had suffered from depression before the accident. He suggested the passport might be an old forgery. He repeatedly reminded the detective that physical resemblance did not establish identity.
Claire waited in a separate room until Bell returned.
“Was my mother’s body ever identified through DNA?” she asked.
“The accident occurred before modern procedures were routinely available.”
“Dental records?”
“According to the original report, yes.”
“According to whom?”
Bell looked down at the copied file.
“Dr. Samuel Kirk.”
The same doctor who had claimed Evelyn was incompetent.
Claire felt the room tilt.
“Dr. Kirk identified my mother?”
“He supplied dental records to investigators.”
“Did anyone independently confirm them?”
“I’m reviewing that now.”
“What about the passport?”
“It was issued under the name Anna Rose Bennett sixteen months ago.”
“So she is alive.”
“It indicates someone using her identity was alive.”
“Where was it issued?”
“Portugal.”
“Has the entry record been confirmed?”
“Yes. A woman traveling under that passport arrived at Westbridge International Airport on December nineteenth.”
Six days before Christmas.
“Was there surveillance footage?”
“We are requesting it.”
“Where did she stay?”
“A hotel near the financial district.”
“Is she still there?”
“She checked out on Christmas Eve.”
Claire looked toward the interview-room window.
“Did she come to Grandma’s house?”
“We found two sets of recent fingerprints in the guest bedroom. One belongs to Evelyn. The other is being analyzed.”
“Why would someone burn her passport?”
Bell did not answer.
Claire already knew the most likely reason.
Someone wanted the family to believe Anna was dead again.
That afternoon, Claire returned to her apartment accompanied by Laura Chen.
The building’s front entrance had been forced open.
Inside Claire’s apartment, drawers had been overturned and books thrown from shelves. Her mattress had been cut. Kitchen containers lay smashed across the floor.
“They were looking for the check,” Laura said.
“Or Grandma’s letters.”
“Do you have them?”
“Benjamin secured the originals.”
Claire entered the bedroom.
A photograph of Anna had been removed from the frame on her dresser.
The empty frame lay facedown.
“They took her picture.”
Laura examined the broken lock.
“Pack essential clothing. You should stay somewhere else.”
“Where?”
“The bank has a secure residential property.”
“I don’t want to hide.”
“This is not hiding. It is surviving long enough to understand who is threatening you.”
Claire packed a small suitcase.
As she opened the wardrobe, an envelope fell from the top shelf.
Her name was written across it.
The handwriting belonged to Owen.
Inside was a keycard and a short note.
CLAIRE,
IF GRANDMA’S PLAN HAS STARTED, GO TO THE OLD MERIDIAN OFFICE BEFORE DAD REALIZES WHAT SHE LEFT THERE.
I’M SORRY I DIDN’T TELL YOU ABOUT THE FIRE.
OWEN
Claire showed the note to Laura.
“Grandma said I could trust Owen only if he mentioned the fire without being asked.”
“And he did.”
“Why leave the note here?”
“He may have entered before the apartment was searched.”
The keycard carried the faded logo of Bennett Meridian’s original headquarters.
The building had been abandoned after the company moved into a glass tower downtown.
Claire called Owen.
His phone went directly to voicemail.
She called again.
Nothing.
Then she received a message from Melissa.
FAMILY MEETING AT GRANDMA’S HOUSE. SIX O’CLOCK. DAD SAYS EVERYONE MUST ATTEND.
Claire showed Laura.
“That could be a trap,” Laura said.
“It could also be the only chance to find out what they know.”
At six, Claire entered Evelyn’s house with Laura waiting in a vehicle across the street.
The family had gathered in the drawing room.
No one laughed now.
Daniel sat near the fireplace, staring at the floor. Melissa clutched a glass of wine with both hands. Vivian paced beside the windows. Stephen whispered into his phone.
Richard stood beneath the portrait of Thomas Bennett.
“Where is Owen?” Claire asked.
“He isn’t answering,” Vivian said.
Richard raised his hand.
“We need to remain calm.”
Claire faced him.
“My mother is alive.”
Melissa gasped.
Daniel looked at Richard.
Vivian stopped pacing.
Richard’s expression did not change.
“We do not know that.”
“The passport was real.”
“A passport can be obtained fraudulently.”
“Dr. Kirk identified her body twenty-three years ago. Now he’s helping you declare Grandma incompetent.”
“Those matters are unrelated.”
“Are they?”
Stephen ended his call.
“What does Anna have to do with the checks?”
Claire looked around the room.
“You all destroyed yours.”
Daniel frowned.
“What about it?”
“They were real.”
No one moved.
Claire let the truth settle.
“Every check was backed by five million dollars.”
Melissa’s wine glass slipped from her hands and struck the carpet.
Daniel stood.
“No.”
“The bank confirmed it.”
Stephen stared at the fireplace, where he had burned his check.
Vivian covered her mouth.
Richard spoke sharply.
“Claire is repeating confidential information she does not understand.”
Daniel turned toward him.
“You told us they were fake.”
“I believed they were.”
“You tore mine after dinner,” Owen’s absence suddenly notable in Daniel's accusation? Daniel continued, “You said we should destroy them before Grandma used them to manipulate us.”
Vivian faced her brother.
“Can they be replaced?”
Richard did not answer.
Melissa rushed toward the dining room.
“My check fell into the potatoes. The staff may have thrown it away.”
Stephen moved toward the fireplace and began shifting cold ash with a brass poker.
Daniel searched beneath furniture.
The family scattered through the house, hunting for pieces of paper they had mocked less than a day earlier.
Evelyn’s test continued even in her absence.
Claire watched her father.
He was not searching.
“You kept yours,” she said.
Richard looked at her.
“I tore it in half.”
“But you didn’t burn it.”
“That is none of your concern.”
“You knew there was a chance it was real.”
His silence answered.
A crash sounded upstairs.
Everyone froze.
Claire ran toward the staircase.
The door to Evelyn’s bedroom stood open.
A figure moved inside.
Claire entered and found Owen kneeling beside the bed.
His shirt was torn. Blood darkened one sleeve.
“Owen!”
He looked up.
“You shouldn’t have come here.”
“What happened to you?”
“Dad’s security team found me at the old office.”
Richard appeared in the doorway.
“Owen,” he said slowly, “what did you take?”
Owen pulled a flash drive from his pocket.
“The Northpoint files.”
Richard stepped into the room.
“Give them to me.”
“No.”
“Owen, you don’t know what is on that drive.”
“Yes, I do.”
He looked at Claire.
“The fire wasn’t an accident.”
Richard lunged forward.
Before he reached Owen, a voice sounded from the hall.
“Step away from my children.”
Everyone turned.
A woman stood at the top of the stairs wearing a dark coat.
May you like
Her hair was streaked with gray, but Claire recognized her face from every photograph she had ever treasured.
Anna Bennett was alive.
