Chapter 6: The Woman Who Kept the Original
I asked Susan where she was.
She said she was standing outside the hotel.
I looked through the glass entrance doors and saw a woman in a beige coat holding a black handbag.
She appeared to be in her late fifties.
Her hair was pulled back. Her shoulders were hunched, and she kept looking over her shoulder as if someone might be following her.
"Stay where you are," I told her.
"We're coming.""
Daniel heard me.
"Who is it?""
"Someone who says she has the original trust deed.""
Richard immediately closed his briefcase.
"Then we need to speak with her before anyone else does.""
Vanessa, who had been standing near her father, suddenly looked up.
"Who?""
I didn't answer.
Daniel noticed her reaction.
"Do you know this woman?""
Vanessa shook her head too quickly.
"No.""
"Then why are you frightened?""
"I'm not frightened.""
But her fingers were trembling.
Daniel turned to Richard.
"Let's go.""
I insisted on walking with them.
My hip hurt, but I wasn't going to sit in a chair while the final pieces of Thomas's story unfolded without me.
When we reached the lobby, Susan spotted us.
"Mrs. Hayes?""
I nodded.
She immediately began crying.
"I'm so sorry.""
I looked at her carefully.
"Do I know you?""
"You might remember me. I worked in the accounting department at Hayes Development. I was there when your husband discovered the missing funds.""
I remembered.
Susan Miller.
She had been a quiet employee with short brown hair and thick glasses.
Thomas used to say she was the only person in the office who could find a missing dollar in a warehouse full of paperwork.
"What happened to you?"" I asked.
She lowered her eyes.
"I was fired.""
"Why?""
"Because I refused to change the records.""
Daniel stepped forward.
"Did you see who took the original trust deed?""
Susan looked at him.
"Yes.""
"Who?""
She glanced toward the ballroom.
"Your bride.""
Daniel's face went blank.
Vanessa had followed us.
She was standing several feet away, holding the front of her dress.
"That's a lie," she said.
Susan flinched.
"Please don't come near me.""
Vanessa laughed.
"You were fired for stealing office supplies. Nobody believes you.""
Susan opened her handbag.
She removed a thick brown folder.
"Then perhaps you'll believe this.""
Inside was a photograph.
It showed Vanessa entering Thomas's office late one evening.
The date printed in the corner was two days before his death.
Daniel took the photograph.
"Where did you get this?""
"Security footage. I saved a copy before Frank ordered the system erased.""
Vanessa shook her head.
"I was visiting your grandfather.""
"At eleven forty-seven at night?""
"He was sick!""
Susan nodded.
"Yes. He was. And he was asleep when you entered his office.""
Vanessa stared at her.
Susan continued.
"I was working late because Mr. Hayes had asked me to reconcile the charity accounts. I saw you enter the office carrying a handbag. Twenty minutes later, you left with something inside it.""
Daniel's voice dropped.
"What was inside?""
Susan opened the folder.
"The original trust deed.""
I watched Daniel's face.
He looked as though someone had pulled the floor out from beneath him.
"Why didn't you report this?""
"I tried. Frank threatened to sue me. He said I would lose my pension and never work in finance again. Then someone broke into my apartment.""
Richard frowned.
"Did you report that?""
"I was scared.""
She handed him the folder.
"That's why I kept the documents.""
Richard examined the original deed.
He compared the signatures, the official seals, and the registry number.
After several minutes, he looked up.
"This is genuine.""
Daniel let out a breath.
"Does that mean the property is still mine?""
"Legally, the original trust deed supports your claim. The fraudulent transfer can be challenged.""
Susan nodded.
"But there's something else.""
She removed a smaller envelope.
"This was attached to the original deed.""
My stomach tightened.
I recognized the handwriting immediately.
Thomas.
Susan handed it to me.
"Your husband told me to keep this safe. He said that if anything happened to him, I should give it to you only when the original deed was recovered.""
My fingers trembled as I opened it.
Inside was a handwritten letter.
Margaret,
If you're reading this, then someone finally found the courage to bring the truth into the open.
I know what Frank has done. I know what Vanessa has done. But there is one person whose involvement I could never prove.
I stopped reading.
Daniel looked at me.
"Grandma?""
I continued.
The person who helped Frank gain access to my accounts was someone I trusted more than anyone.
My breathing became shallow.
There was another paragraph.
I suspect that person was the one who informed Frank about my final plans for Willow Creek. Without that information, none of this could have happened.
Daniel leaned closer.
"Who?""
I looked at the bottom of the letter.
Thomas had written a name.
Not Frank Cole.
Not Vanessa.
Someone from our own family.
Someone who had attended our home for Christmas dinners.
Someone who had sat beside Thomas in the hospital during his final week.
My hand began to shake.
Daniel gently took the letter.
He read the name.
Then he looked at me.
"Grandma...""
I nodded.
It was my son.
Daniel's father.
Michael Hayes.
The man who had supposedly died in a car accident seven years earlier.
Daniel stared at the letter.
"That's impossible.""
I couldn't speak.
Michael had been missing for seven years.
We had held a funeral with an empty coffin because the police had never recovered his body.
I had spent every birthday, every Christmas, and every Father's Day wondering whether my son was alive somewhere.
And now Thomas's letter suggested that Michael hadn't disappeared because of an accident.
He had disappeared because he had helped steal from his own father.
Vanessa suddenly began laughing.
It wasn't a happy laugh.
It was the sound of someone who had been cornered and had finally decided to stop pretending.
"Well," she said, wiping her cheeks, "I suppose there's no point hiding it anymore.""
Daniel turned toward her.
"What do you know about my father?""
Vanessa looked at me.
Then she said six words that made my blood run cold.
"Your father is alive, Margaret.""
I grabbed the edge of the reception desk.
Daniel stepped toward her.
"Where is he?""
Vanessa glanced toward the hotel entrance.
"He's been here all evening.""
The lobby doors opened.
A man walked inside wearing a dark overcoat.
His hair was gray at the temples.
His face was older, thinner, but I knew those eyes.
I would have recognized them anywhere.
My son stopped several feet away.
He looked at Daniel.
Then at me.
May you like
And finally, he spoke.
"Hello, Mother.""
