Chapter 12 - The Woman in Room Three
The woman introduced herself as Ruth Calder, a retired school librarian who had lived in the same brick house for thirty-eight years.
Nora brought her into the consultation room while Leah reviewed the eviction notice. Ruth explained that her nephew had recently begun helping with her finances. After a short hospital stay, he claimed she had signed documents transferring the house to a family trust.
Ruth remembered signing medical forms.
She did not remember signing away her home.
“When did you speak to my grandmother?” Nora asked.
Ruth placed an old business card on the desk.
The card displayed Ada Hale’s name and the address of Hale Property Management, the company Ada had sold before Nora was born.
“A woman called me,” Ruth said. “She said she worked with Ada. She knew things only Ada could have known.”
“What things?”
“She knew about the night your grandmother found me sleeping in the office because my husband had thrown me out. She helped me rent my first apartment. I never told anyone.”
Nora examined the card. A telephone number had been written across the back in fresh blue ink.
Leah called it.
A recorded message answered.
“You have reached the Westbridge Historical Records Department.”
The official number for that department was different.
Leah traced the eviction filing. Ruth’s house had been transferred to Marrowgate Property Services two weeks earlier. The deed carried the same notary seal as the documents in the blue folder.
Nora searched her grandmother’s archived files and found Ruth’s name in an old tenant ledger. Beside it, Ada had drawn a small triangle.
The same triangle appeared beside eleven other names.
All twelve properties were listed in the blue folder.
“This isn’t random,” Nora said.
Ruth leaned closer to the ledger.
“There used to be another page after this one.”
Nora checked the binding. A sheet had been cut out with a blade.
Before they could continue, Ruth’s phone rang.
The caller identification displayed Nora’s home number.
Nora’s landline was disconnected.
Ruth answered on speaker.
A woman’s voice spoke calmly.
“You should have stayed quiet, Ruth.”
May you like
Nora froze.
The voice sounded exactly like her grandmother.
