Chapter 11 - THE WOMAN IN THE GRAVE
The first wife was named Caroline Hart.
She had died twenty-five years earlier.
The official cause was suicide.
But the records showed something different.
Caroline had been preparing to testify against Arthur Ashford.
Three days before her death, she wrote a letter.
The letter was missing.
Daniel and Evelyn traveled to a small town in Pennsylvania.
There, they found Caroline's former sister-in-law.
Her name was Margaret.
She was eighty years old.
When Evelyn showed her the photograph, Margaret began to cry.
“I knew this day would come.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“What happened to Caroline?”
Margaret looked at him.
“She found out Arthur was stealing from Michael.”
“Why didn't she go to the police?”
“She tried.”
“What happened?”
Margaret looked toward the window.
“Someone threatened her daughter.”
Daniel went pale.
“Caroline had a daughter?”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
Margaret hesitated.
“She changed her name.”
“Why?”
“To survive.”
Margaret handed Daniel a folded piece of paper.
On it was a name.
Lydia Grant.
Daniel stared.
“Where does she live?”
Margaret shook her head.
“I don't know.”
But Evelyn did.
Because she had seen that name before.
In one of Michael's letters.
Daniel looked at her.
“You know her.”
Evelyn's face was pale.
“I met her once.”
“When?”
“After your father's death.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because she asked me not to.”
Daniel stood.
“Where is she?”
Evelyn looked at the paper.
“Chicago.”
They found Lydia two days later.
She was forty-five.
A school counselor.
A quiet woman with the same eyes as Daniel's father.
When she opened the door and saw Evelyn, she began to cry.
“You kept your promise.”
Evelyn nodded.
“I did.”
Daniel stared at Lydia.
“Who are you?”
Lydia looked at him.
“My mother was Caroline Hart.”
Daniel took a step back.
“You are my sister.”
Lydia nodded.
“Yes.”
The world seemed to stop.
For twenty-two years, Daniel had believed he was an only child.
Now a woman stood before him with his father's eyes.
And she had been hiding for most of her life.
Lydia invited them inside.
Then she revealed the truth.
Caroline had not killed herself.
She had been murdered.
And the person who helped cover it up was not Arthur.
It was someone Daniel had never suspected.
May you like
Someone still working inside Hartwell Financial.
Someone close to him.
