Chapter 6 - The Box in the Attic
Daniel spent the night at his mother’s house.
Not because he forgave her.
Because he wanted to search every box Richard had left behind.
I took Maisie to my sister Laura’s apartment.
For the first time since the party, Maisie asked about the chain.
“Was Grandma mad because I’m bad?”
The question almost broke me.
I knelt in front of her.
“No.”
“Then why did she put me outside?”
“Grandma made a very wrong choice.”
“Does Daddy think I’m not his?”
Children always hear the sentence adults hope they missed.
I pulled her close.
“Daddy knows you’re his.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
That night, I decided something.
Whatever happened between Daniel and me, Judith Mercer would never be alone with my daughter again.
At 1:17 in the morning, Daniel called.
“Claire.”
His voice sounded strange.
“What happened?”
“I found something.”
I left Maisie with Laura and drove to Judith’s house.
Daniel waited in the attic.
Dust covered his shirt.
Around him were old financial ledgers, photographs, company files, and Christmas decorations.
He pointed to a wooden box.
It had been hidden beneath insulation behind a false panel.
Inside were letters.
Dozens of them.
All written by Thomas Vale.
Some were addressed to Judith.
Some to Richard.
One was addressed to “my son.”
Daniel’s hand shook as he opened it.
The paper was yellow.
The ink had faded.
Daniel read silently.
Then stopped.
“What does it say?” I asked.
He handed it to me.
Daniel, if you ever read this, then someone failed to tell you the truth.
Your name may be Mercer, but you are my son.
I intend to make that truth public after tonight’s meeting.
I will not allow fear, money, or Richard’s father to erase you from my life.
Daniel sat on an old trunk.
“He wrote this the day he disappeared.”
I continued reading.
There was more.
Thomas had discovered financial transfers made using his signature.
Patent royalties had been redirected.
Company assets were being moved.
He believed Richard’s father was stealing from him.
Thomas planned to go to the police.
Then came the final paragraph.
If anything happens to me, look beneath the floor in Workshop Three.
I know what they have done.
I have proof.
Daniel stared at me.
Workshop Three belonged to the original Mercer-Vale mill.
The property had been abandoned for twenty-five years.
We drove there at sunrise.
The old mill stood behind rusted fencing near the river.
Workshop Three was partially collapsed.
It took us nearly an hour to locate the floorboards mentioned in the letter.
Underneath them was an empty metal compartment.
Someone had already found it.
Daniel swore.
Then I noticed something scratched into the inside of the lid.
Three initials.
R.M.
Richard Mercer.
And beneath them was a date.
November 14, 1991.
Three years after Thomas Vale disappeared.
Richard had known about the hiding place.
May you like
Which meant Richard had found Thomas’s evidence.
The question was what he had done with it.
