Chapter 12 - Arthur Mercer’s Letter
Arthur’s letter had never been mailed.
It was written to Richard.
The date was December 1989.
One year after Thomas vanished.
Daniel, Evelyn, Caleb, and I sat in a conference room while the detective read a copy aloud.
Arthur admitted confronting Thomas outside the mill.
He admitted forcing him into a car.
He admitted threatening him.
But Thomas had escaped before Arthur could take him to a private airfield.
Arthur claimed he never knew where Thomas went afterward.
Then came the sentence that destroyed Judith’s version of events.
Your wife helped me.
Daniel went completely still.
Arthur described Judith arranging the meeting.
She told Thomas she had changed her mind and would leave Richard.
She told him to meet her alone near the river.
Thomas went because he trusted her.
Judith never arrived.
Arthur did.
Evelyn stood abruptly.
“She set him up.”
Daniel said nothing.
I looked at him.
His face was blank.
The detective continued.
Arthur wrote that Judith later demanded payment for her silence.
Richard apparently discovered the arrangement years later.
Instead of exposing them, he concealed it.
Everyone had used Thomas.
His business partner.
His lover.
The Mercer patriarch.
And then they allowed the world to believe he had vanished by choice.
Evelyn walked out.
Daniel followed her.
I stayed seated.
The detective looked at me.
“There’s another issue.”
I almost dreaded asking.
“What?”
“Mrs. Mercer has maintained a storage unit for twenty-nine years.”
“What was in it?”
“Company files.”
“Anything else?”
He hesitated.
“A suitcase belonging to Thomas Vale.”
My skin prickled.
“What was inside?”
“Clothes.”
“Why would Judith have his suitcase?”
“We asked her.”
“And?”
“She requested an attorney.”
That evening, Daniel went to see his mother in county processing before she posted bond.
When he returned, he looked different.
“What did she say?” I asked.
“She admitted it.”
“All of it?”
“She told Thomas to meet Arthur.”
I watched him carefully.
“Why?”
“Money.”
The word came out hollow.
“Arthur offered her enough to guarantee my future.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“My future.”
I did not know what to say.
“She said she thought Arthur would scare Thomas away.”
“But she kept his suitcase.”
“She found it at the mill afterward.”
“Why keep it?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Because there was something inside.”
He reached into his jacket.
A small envelope.
Judith had finally told him where to find it before detectives seized the storage unit.
Inside was a photograph of baby Daniel.
On the back, Thomas had written five words.
For my son.
I will return.
Below it was a name.
Dr. Henry Lawson.
Daniel frowned.
“Who is that?”
I knew.
Dr. Henry Lawson was still alive.
May you like
He was eighty-seven.
And he had delivered Daniel forty years ago.
