Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN AT THE FUNERAL
The photograph arrived at 11:12 that morning.
Detective Pierce sent it without explanation.
It was a still frame taken from old funeral-home security footage.
Hundreds of mourners appeared in the lobby.
Near the far wall stood a woman in a black coat.
She was watching Ethan.
Not the casket.
Not the gathering.
Ethan.
He zoomed in.
The image was grainy.
The woman looked approximately sixty.
Silver-blond hair.
Thin face.
Large dark glasses.
He did not recognize her.
Then Rachel walked behind him.
Her coffee cup slipped from her hand.
Ethan turned.
“What?”
Rachel stared at the phone.
“No.”
“What?”
She took the device.
“Where did you get this?”
“Police.”
Rachel’s face had gone pale.
“Who is she?”
Rachel sat down.
“Her name is Evelyn Vale.”
Ethan froze.
“Vale?”
“Corinne’s mother.”
Ethan stared.
“Corinne told me her mother was dead.”
Rachel looked at him.
“She isn’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I met her.”
“When?”
Rachel hesitated.
“Years ago.”
“Rachel.”
“At Mara’s baby shower.”
Ethan felt another piece of his life shift.
“You’re telling me Corinne’s mother was at Maisie’s baby shower?”
“Yes.”
“Why don’t I remember her?”
“She stayed maybe twenty minutes.”
“Why?”
Rachel shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“Was Corinne there?”
“Yes.”
Ethan stood.
“Mara knew Corinne before the financial problems.”
Rachel stared at him.
“You didn’t know that?”
“No.”
“I thought you did.”
Ethan paced toward the window.
“I thought Corinne became close to Mara through the preschool fundraising committee.”
“No.”
Rachel looked confused.
“They knew each other before you and Mara got married.”
Ethan turned.
“What?”
“I don’t know how well.”
“Why did nobody tell me?”
Rachel’s expression hardened.
“Because we assumed you knew.”
Ethan felt dizzy.
Another lie.
Another altered history.
Corinne had told him she met Mara four years into their marriage.
If Rachel was right, that was impossible.
He called Pierce.
The detective answered immediately.
“I was about to call you.”
“The woman is Evelyn Vale.”
Silence.
“You know her?”
“My sister does.”
Pierce exhaled.
“That matches what we just found.”
“What did you find?”
“Evelyn Vale is alive.”
“I know.”
“She lives under the name Evelyn Hart.”
“Where?”
“About ninety miles from you.”
Ethan looked toward Maisie.
Rachel had taken her into the living room.
“Why would Corinne tell me she was dead?”
“We don’t know.”
“Have you found Derek?”
“No.”
“Corinne?”
“She’s at the hotel.”
“Is she still there?”
“We confirmed thirty minutes ago.”
Ethan lowered his voice.
“Pierce, my sister says Mara knew Corinne before our marriage.”
Another silence.
“That’s significant.”
“That’s an understatement.”
“I’ll call you back.”
The detective hung up.
Ethan stood in the kitchen for a long time.
Then Maisie entered.
She carried a pink plastic cup.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“Can I have juice?”
The ordinary question nearly undid him.
He poured apple juice.
Maisie climbed onto a chair.
“Is Aunt Rachel mad?”
“No.”
“Are you mad?”
“I’m upset.”
“At Corinne?”
“Yes.”
Maisie nodded solemnly.
“She lies.”
Ethan sat across from her.
“Did she lie to you a lot?”
“Yes.”
“About what?”
Maisie counted on her fingers.
“Mommy.”
Ethan waited.
“You.”
Another finger.
“Aunt Leah.”
Ethan leaned forward.
“What did she say about Aunt Leah?”
“She said Aunt Leah hates me.”
His stomach turned.
“Anything else?”
“She said Aunt Leah didn’t want to see me.”
Ethan’s eyes burned.
Leah had tried repeatedly to see Maisie after Mara’s death.
Corinne had been the one who convinced Ethan those visits were unhealthy.
She claimed Leah blamed Ethan for Mara’s accident.
She said Leah wanted to take Maisie.
Eventually, Ethan stopped answering Leah’s calls.
He had believed he was protecting his daughter.
Instead, he had isolated her from one of the people Mara trusted most.
Ethan immediately reached for his phone.
Leah’s number was still saved.
His thumb hovered over it.
Shame stopped him.
What could he possibly say?
Sorry I believed the woman who lied about your sister.
Sorry I kept your niece away for nearly two years.
Sorry I married the person Mara feared.
Maisie watched him.
“Call Aunt Leah.”
Ethan looked at her.
“You want me to?”
Maisie nodded.
“She sent me cards.”
His body stiffened.
“What cards?”
“The purple ones.”
“I never saw any cards.”
“Corinne threw them away.”
Ethan stood so quickly his chair scraped backward.
“What?”
“She said Aunt Leah was trying to make me sad.”
“How many?”
Maisie shrugged.
“A lot.”
Ethan stared toward the trash cabinet as if old birthday cards might somehow still be there.
Then he pressed Leah’s number.
It rang once.
Twice.
Three times.
A woman answered.
“Hello?”
Ethan forgot how to speak.
Leah’s voice sounded painfully similar to Mara’s.
“Leah.”
Silence.
Then her voice changed.
“Ethan?”
“Yeah.”
A long pause.
“Is Maisie okay?”
That was her first question.
Not why are you calling.
Not what do you want.
Is Maisie okay?
Ethan closed his eyes.
“She is now.”
“What does that mean?”
“I need to talk to you.”
“About what?”
“Corinne.”
Leah became silent.
Ethan heard her breathing.
“What happened?”
“I found Mara’s papers.”
The line went completely quiet.
“Leah?”
“You found them?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“In my house.”
Leah whispered something Ethan could not hear.
Then her voice broke.
“Oh, my God.”
“You knew?”
“I helped her copy them.”
Ethan gripped the counter.
“You knew everything?”
“Not everything.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“For months.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
“I didn’t answer.”
“No.”
“I’m sorry.”
Leah did not respond.
“I thought you wanted to take Maisie.”
“Corinne told you that.”
“Yes.”
Leah’s voice turned bitter.
“Of course she did.”
Ethan struggled to breathe.
“Leah, did Mara know Corinne before we got married?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Another pause.
“They went to college together.”
Ethan leaned against the counter.
“Why didn’t Mara tell me?”
“She did.”
“No, she didn’t.”
“Yes, Ethan.”
Leah sounded confused.
“She told you at dinner the first year you were dating.”
Ethan searched his memory.
Nothing.
Then something surfaced.
A restaurant.
Mara laughing about a roommate who stole her clothes.
A woman named Cory.
He had never connected Cory to Corinne.
“Corinne was her roommate?”
“For one semester.”
“What happened?”
“They had a falling-out.”
“About?”
Leah hesitated.
“Money.”
Ethan almost laughed.
The pattern had begun long before Maisie existed.
“What kind of money?”
“Mara’s scholarship account.”
Ethan’s heart sank.
“Corinne stole from her?”
“Mara could never prove it.”
“Why would she let Corinne back into her life?”
“She didn’t.”
Ethan went still.
“What?”
“Corinne reappeared.”
“When?”
“After Maisie was born.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“She told me they reconnected through preschool.”
“Maisie wasn’t even in preschool when Corinne showed up again.”
Ethan pressed his fingers against his forehead.
“How did she get close?”
“She apologized.”
Leah sounded exhausted.
“She said she had changed.”
“Mara believed her?”
“At first.”
Ethan looked toward Maisie.
The little girl was drawing again.
A house.
Three stick figures.
One had wings.
His throat tightened.
“Leah, who is Derek Sloan?”
Silence.
“Leah?”
“I heard the name once.”
“From Mara?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
“She thought he was Evelyn’s boyfriend.”
Ethan froze.
“Corinne’s mother’s boyfriend?”
“Years ago.”
“Did Mara know him?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Why would he help Corinne?”
“I don’t know.”
Ethan heard movement on Leah’s end.
Then she said something unexpected.
“There’s something you need.”
“What?”
“Mara gave me a sealed envelope.”
“When?”
“The afternoon she died.”
Ethan’s heart stopped.
“You saw her that day?”
“No.”
“She had it delivered by courier.”
“What’s inside?”
“I don’t know.”
“You never opened it?”
“It’s addressed to you.”
Ethan could barely speak.
“You’ve had a letter from Mara for two years?”
“I tried to give it to you.”
He closed his eyes.
“At the funeral?”
“Yes.”
Ethan remembered Leah approaching him near the cemetery.
Corinne intercepted her.
A fight followed.
Corinne later claimed Leah had been trying to blame Ethan for Mara’s death.
Ethan had asked Leah to leave.
Shame burned through him.
“Where is it now?”
“In a safe.”
“Can I come?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll bring Maisie.”
Leah inhaled sharply.
“She’s with you?”
“Yes.”
“Can I talk to her?”
Ethan handed Maisie the phone.
“It’s Aunt Leah.”
Maisie’s face lit up.
“Hi!”
Ethan walked away because he could not bear the sound of Leah crying.
Two hours later, he and Maisie arrived at Leah’s home.
Rachel came too.
Leah opened the door before Ethan reached the porch.
She barely looked at him.
She dropped to her knees and opened her arms.
Maisie ran into them.
Leah began sobbing.
Maisie clung to her.
“I knew you didn’t hate me.”
Leah pulled back.
“What?”
“Corinne said you hated me.”
Leah’s face hardened.
“I have never hated you for one second.”
“I knew.”
Maisie smiled.
Ethan turned away.
Leah eventually stood.
Her eyes met his.
There was anger there.
And grief.
But also something else.
Recognition.
They had both been manipulated.
“I should have listened to you.”
Ethan said it immediately.
“Yes.”
Leah did not soften the answer.
“I know.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I know that too.”
She stepped aside.
“Come in.”
The envelope waited in a small fireproof safe.
Leah placed it on the kitchen table.
Mara’s handwriting appeared on the front.
ETHAN ONLY.
Ethan opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
No letter.
No explanation.
Just a photograph.
Four people stood outside a lakeside cabin.
Mara.
Corinne.
Evelyn Vale.
And Derek Sloan.
The photograph was dated twelve years earlier.
Ethan stared at it.
On the back, Mara had written one sentence.
Ask Corinne what happened to Natalie.
Ethan looked at Leah.
“Who is Natalie?”
Leah’s face changed.
“You don’t know?”
“No.”
Leah slowly sat down.
“Natalie Sloan was Derek’s younger sister.”
“What does she have to do with Corinne?”
“She was Corinne’s best friend in college.”
Ethan waited.
Leah swallowed.
“She disappeared.”
“When?”
“Twelve years ago.”
“Was she found?”
Leah shook her head.
“No.”
Ethan looked back at the photograph.
Corinne had lied about Mara.
She had lied about Evelyn.
She had hidden evidence.
She had abused Maisie.
She had been linked to Derek.
Now Mara was directing Ethan toward a missing woman no one had seen in twelve years.
Ethan flipped the photograph again.
Only then did he notice another line written near the bottom.
It had been partially hidden beneath the edge.
May you like
Natalie knew why Corinne wanted my life.
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