Chapter 3 - Claire’s envelope
I didn't tear the envelope open impulsively.
We documented where it had been found and later opened it with our attorney present.
Inside were three things.
A handwritten letter.
A photograph.
A bank-deposit receipt.
The photograph showed Claire standing beside a woman I didn't recognize.
The receipt documented $180,000 deposited into an account associated with something called Bellweather Consulting.
The letter was addressed to me.
Daniel,
If you're reading this, I either finally found the courage to tell you, or something prevented me from doing it.
I stopped.
Claire wrote that she'd discovered unexplained transfers from an investment account created for Lily.
That made no sense.
Lily had been two when Claire died.
I didn't know she had an investment account.
Apparently Claire's father created it shortly after Lily's birth.
My late father-in-law, William Mercer.
There was the first surprise.
Claire's maiden name had been Mercer.
Mercer.
The same surname would matter later, though I didn't know it yet.
Claire believed someone had withdrawn money using her credentials.
She began investigating.
Bellweather Consulting received one transfer.
Then another.
Then the company disappeared.
“Who owned it?” I asked.
Our attorney checked.
Registered agent:
Eleanor Price.
The woman in Claire's photograph.
We found Eleanor.
Alive.
Fifty-eight.
Living in Virginia.
I showed Lily her photograph.
My daughter immediately pointed.
“That's the lady.”
The woman who had been entering my house.
The woman who gave Lily the silver key.
I felt sick.
Eleanor had been close enough to my daughter to hand her something.
Without my knowledge.
I called her.
She answered on the third ring.
“Daniel Carter?”
“You've been inside my house.”
Silence.
“You approached my daughter.”
“I needed you to find Claire's letter.”
“You could have called.”
“I tried.”
“No, you didn't.”
“I couldn't trust Nora.”
I looked across the room.
Nora went rigid.
“Why?”
“Because Bellweather wasn't my company.”
“The records say it was.”
“My name was used.”
Another stolen identity?
“How?”
“I worked for William Mercer.”
Claire's father.
“What did you do?”
“Accounting.”
“And Bellweather?”
“I discovered it after Claire did.”
“Who created it?”
Eleanor hesitated.
“Someone in your family.”
“Who?”
“Not yours.”
A pause.
“Claire's.”
Then she said:
“Daniel, William Mercer didn't create Lily's account to make her wealthy.”
“Why did he create it?”
“To hide money.”
May you like
“How much?”
“Enough that somebody was willing to kill for it.”
