Chapter 13: The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
Vanessa stared at the photograph.
The woman in the gray coat had the same silver hair, the same narrow face, and the same distinctive pearl earrings she remembered from childhood.
Her grandmother.
Evelyn Hayes.
Dead for nine years.
Yet there she was, walking into a storage facility that morning.
“That's impossible,” Vanessa whispered.
Margaret enlarged the image.
“Are you certain this is your grandmother?””
Vanessa nodded.
“I remember those earrings. She wore them every Sunday.””
Brielle stepped closer.
“Is that really her?””
Daniel had returned from speaking with the police. When he saw the photograph, he stopped in the doorway.
“Where did you get that?””
Margaret showed him the screen.
Daniel stared.
His face became completely colorless.
“Evelyn.””
Vanessa turned toward him.
“You recognize her?””
“Of course I recognize her. She's my mother.””
“Your mother has been dead for nine years!””
“I know!””
Daniel took the phone and examined the image.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he noticed something.
“The scar.””
Vanessa leaned closer.
“What scar?””
“On her left hand. She cut herself when I was a child. A piece of broken glass went through her palm.””
The image showed a faint mark beneath the woman's glove.
Daniel's breathing became shallow.
“That's her.””
Margaret immediately contacted the investigator.
Within minutes, the police confirmed that the storage facility had been registered under an alias.
The woman had used an identification card belonging to someone named Eleanor Brooks.
But the signature on the access form matched Evelyn Hayes's handwriting.
There was another detail.
The storage locker had been paid for continuously for nine years.
Vanessa looked at Daniel.
“Grandma never died?””
Daniel shook his head.
“I attended her funeral.””
“Then who was in the coffin?””
“I don't know.””
He sat down heavily.
Margaret placed the photograph on the table.
“We need to be careful. A security image alone cannot establish someone's identity. But this is significant enough for the police to investigate immediately.””
Daniel stood.
“I'm going to that storage facility.””
“The police will handle it,” Margaret replied.
“That's my mother!””
“And someone may have been using her identity to hide evidence. You need to let the investigation proceed.””
Vanessa looked at the photograph again.
Her entire childhood seemed to be changing before her eyes.
She remembered the funeral.
The black dresses.
The flowers.
Her father crying beside the coffin.
She had been too young to understand death, but she remembered holding his hand and asking whether Grandma could hear them.
Daniel had told her that Grandma was in heaven.
Now he was telling her that he didn't know who had been buried.
An officer arrived shortly afterward.
He examined the photograph and asked Daniel several questions.
“Mr. Hayes, did your mother have any reason to disappear?””
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
“Not that I knew of.””
“Was she involved in your business?””
“She helped with financial administration years ago.””
“Did she know Jonathan Pierce?””
“Yes. She introduced us.””
The officer wrote something down.
“Did she know Tiana?””
Daniel looked toward the staircase.
“She met Tiana shortly after we started dating.””
Vanessa suddenly remembered something.
“Dad?””
He turned.
“When I was little, Grandma used to tell me a story about a woman who borrowed other people's names.””
Daniel frowned.
“What?””
“She said the woman had so many identities that nobody knew who she really was.””
Margaret looked up.
“Did she mention anyone?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“I thought it was just a strange story.””
The officer exchanged a glance with Margaret.
“We should investigate the identity records.””
Then another message arrived.
The storage facility manager had reviewed the security system.
The woman in the gray coat had entered locker 317.
She had remained inside for eleven minutes.
And when she left, she was carrying a small black box.
Vanessa felt her stomach tighten.
“What's inside locker 317?””
The officer answered.
“We don't know yet.””
Margaret received another call.
She listened, then looked toward Daniel.
“The investigator has found the original lease agreement.””
Daniel leaned forward.
“What does it say?””
Margaret's expression changed.
“The locker was originally registered to Jonathan Pierce.””
Vanessa closed her eyes.
Of course.
Everything led back to Jonathan.
But why would Evelyn be collecting something from his storage locker?
And why had she disappeared?
An hour later, the police obtained the necessary authorization to inspect the locker.
Vanessa was permitted to accompany Margaret to the facility after the investigator agreed that she might help identify personal documents belonging to her mother.
Daniel remained at home to provide additional statements.
Brielle insisted on coming too.
The storage facility stood on the edge of town, surrounded by metal fencing and rows of identical gray doors.
The manager led them to locker 317.
A police officer unlocked it.
Inside were several cardboard boxes, an old filing cabinet, and a wooden trunk.
The room smelled of dust and stale paper.
Margaret opened the first box.
It contained financial statements.
The second contained photographs.
The third held correspondence between Jonathan and Tiana.
Vanessa picked up one photograph.
It showed Tiana standing beside Evelyn.
They were smiling.
On the back was a date.
Three months before Evelyn's supposed death.
Brielle picked up another photograph.
“Vanessa.””
She showed her a picture of Jonathan and Tiana entering a hotel together.
There was a handwritten note beneath it.
The arrangement remains unchanged. The girl must never know.
Vanessa looked at her.
“What girl?””
Brielle turned the photograph over.
A name had been written on the back.
*Olivia.*
Tiana's youngest daughter.
The child who had supposedly died years earlier.
Vanessa felt a chill.
“Why would they write that?””
Margaret examined the photograph.
“We need to find the original records.””
An officer opened the wooden trunk.
Inside was a black box.
Exactly like the one the woman in the gray coat had carried out earlier.
Vanessa stared.
“Someone replaced it.””
The officer examined the lock.
“It appears this one has been opened recently.””
Margaret carefully lifted the lid.
Inside lay an old cassette recorder, several photographs, and a handwritten letter.
The letter was addressed to Daniel.
Vanessa recognized the handwriting.
Her grandmother's.
Margaret opened it.
The first sentence made her blood run cold.
Daniel, if you are reading this, then Jonathan has finally made his move.
The letter continued.
Your mother was never the innocent woman she pretended to be.
Vanessa looked at Margaret.
“Keep reading.””
Margaret turned the page.
I helped Jonathan create the false company. I also helped Tiana conceal the truth about Olivia. But I did not know they intended to use your wife's death to protect themselves.
Vanessa's knees weakened.
Her grandmother had been involved.
The woman who had taught her to bake cookies.
The woman who had attended her school concerts.
The woman she had believed was dead.
Margaret continued reading.
I disappeared because I discovered what they had done. I was afraid they would come after me next.
There was one final paragraph.
The recording will explain everything. But before you listen, understand this: the person who caused the accident was not the person who wanted your wife dead.
Vanessa stared at the cassette recorder.
“What's on it?””
The officer carefully removed the tape.
Then he placed it inside an evidence bag.
Margaret looked at Vanessa.
“We'll need to have it examined before playing it.””
Vanessa nodded.
But before they could leave, the facility manager hurried toward them.
“Excuse me. There's someone on the phone asking for the woman in charge of the investigation.””
The officer took the call.
His expression changed.
He listened for several seconds.
Then he slowly lowered the phone.
“What is it?”” Margaret asked.
The officer looked at Vanessa.
“The woman in the gray coat has contacted the police.””
He paused.
“She says her name is Evelyn Hayes.””
Vanessa felt her heart race.
“Where is she?””
The officer looked toward the exit.
“She wants to meet her granddaughter.””
May you like
Then he added something that made Vanessa's blood turn cold.
“She says she knows who really killed your mother.””
