Finding the unidentified woman became the center of everything.<\/p>\n
Arthur remembered dark clothing.<\/p>\n
Carmen remembered shoulder-length hair.<\/p>\n
Neither could identify her from photographs of Rebecca or Paula.<\/p>\n
Jonathan claimed not to remember any fourth person.<\/p>\n
Mom still wasn't cooperating.<\/p>\n
Then investigators examined the hotel payment records.<\/p>\n
Room 214 was cash.<\/p>\n
Room 216 had initially been reserved with a credit card before being paid in cash at checkout.<\/p>\n
The card belonged to a company.<\/p>\n
Pike-Mercer Holdings.<\/p>\n
Dad and Jonathan's business.<\/p>\n
But the reservation had been made by an employee.<\/p>\n
Nina Vale.<\/p>\n
"Who's Nina?" I asked.<\/p>\n
Rebecca didn't know.<\/p>\n
Derek didn't know.<\/p>\n
Jonathan's lawyer said Jonathan barely remembered her.<\/p>\n
That turned out to be another lie.<\/p>\n
Nina had been the company's bookkeeper.<\/p>\n
She handled the accounts Dad had discovered were missing money.<\/p>\n
Investigators found her in Oregon.<\/p>\n
She was fifty now.<\/p>\n
When they contacted her, she refused to speak without an attorney.<\/p>\n
"That usually means something," I said.<\/p>\n
"It means she wants legal advice," Collins replied.<\/p>\n
"Which means something."<\/p>\n
"Sometimes it means someone is sensible."<\/p>\n
I rolled my eyes.<\/p>\n
Two days later, Nina agreed to an interview.<\/p>\n
She admitted being at the hotel.<\/p>\n
She admitted seeing Dad.<\/p>\n
She admitted meeting Jonathan.<\/p>\n
Then she denied seeing Mom.<\/p>\n
"How can that be?"<\/p>\n
"She claims she stayed in Room 216."<\/p>\n
"But connected door."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"She heard the fight?"<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"What were they fighting about?"<\/p>\n
"Money."<\/p>\n
"Anything else?"<\/p>\n
"Your mother's pregnancy."<\/p>\n
I stopped.<\/p>\n
"What did they say?"<\/p>\n
"Nina remembers Daniel demanding to know whether Jonathan was the father."<\/p>\n
"Did Jonathan answer?"<\/p>\n
"She says no."<\/p>\n
"Did Mom?"<\/p>\n
"Nina claims she never heard Valerie's response."<\/p>\n
"Convenient."<\/p>\n
Collins ignored that.<\/p>\n
Nina said Dad entered Room 216 after leaving Mom.<\/p>\n
He asked her for financial records.<\/p>\n
She had brought copies.<\/p>\n
"Why?"<\/p>\n
"Because Daniel had contacted her earlier."<\/p>\n
"So Dad arranged the hotel meeting?"<\/p>\n
"Partly."<\/p>\n
"Then why was Mom there?"<\/p>\n
"We're still reconstructing that."<\/p>\n
"Jonathan?"<\/p>\n
"He says Valerie followed him."<\/p>\n
"Do you believe him?"<\/p>\n
Collins gave me a look.<\/p>\n
"Right."<\/p>\n
Nina gave Dad a folder containing bank statements and transfer authorizations.<\/p>\n
"Second briefcase?"<\/p>\n
"She says Daniel put the folder into a leather case."<\/p>\n
"Then Mom took it."<\/p>\n
"Possibly."<\/p>\n
"Collins."<\/p>\n
"Yes?"<\/p>\n
"One day you're going to say something definitely happened."<\/p>\n
"When the evidence supports definitely."<\/p>\n
Nina claimed she left the hotel at 11:23.<\/p>\n
Arthur remembered a woman leaving after Dad but couldn't give an exact time.<\/p>\n
That fit.<\/p>\n
"Where did Nina go?"<\/p>\n
"Home."<\/p>\n
"Proof?"<\/p>\n
"Her apartment building had a night security log. Her vehicle entered at 12:06."<\/p>\n
"So she wasn't in Dad's car at 11:57?"<\/p>\n
"The drive from the traffic camera to her apartment would be nearly impossible in nine minutes."<\/p>\n
"Nearly?"<\/p>\n
"Don't start."<\/p>\n
I smiled despite myself.<\/p>\n
Then Collins showed me an old company photograph.<\/p>\n
Nina stood beside Dad, Jonathan, and several employees.<\/p>\n
I recognized something immediately.<\/p>\n
"Wait."<\/p>\n
"What?"<\/p>\n
"Her necklace."<\/p>\n
A small silver oval hung at Nina's throat.<\/p>\n
I'd seen one like it in Lily's cabin photograph.<\/p>\n
Not on Rebecca.<\/p>\n
On the woman holding the child.<\/p>\n
I asked for the cabin photograph.<\/p>\n
They enlarged it.<\/p>\n
The woman's face was partially turned.<\/p>\n
I had assumed she was Rebecca because everyone else had.<\/p>\n
Rebecca stared at it.<\/p>\n
"That's not me."<\/p>\n
My pulse jumped.<\/p>\n
"Then who is holding Lily?"<\/p>\n
Rebecca leaned closer.<\/p>\n
"I don't know."<\/p>\n
"Could it be Nina?"<\/p>\n
"I've never met Nina."<\/p>\n
Investigators sent the image for comparison.<\/p>\n
Before results returned, Rebecca called Lily.<\/p>\n
I wasn't supposed to listen to the whole conversation, but Rebecca asked one question on speaker.<\/p>\n
"Sweetheart, do you recognize the woman holding you in the lake picture?"<\/p>\n
Lily's voice sounded small.<\/p>\n
"That's Aunt Nina."<\/p>\n
Every adult in the room froze.<\/p>\n
Rebecca's face drained of color.<\/p>\n
"What did you say?"<\/p>\n
"Aunt Nina."<\/p>\n
"You know her?"<\/p>\n
"Yeah."<\/p>\n
"From where?"<\/p>\n
"She used to visit Dad."<\/p>\n
Rebecca stood so quickly her chair tipped backward.<\/p>\n
Lily's father was Rebecca's ex-husband, Mark.<\/p>\n
They had separated years earlier.<\/p>\n
"How long has Nina known your dad?"<\/p>\n
"I don't know."<\/p>\n
"Does she still visit?"<\/p>\n
"Sometimes."<\/p>\n
Rebecca ended the call carefully.<\/p>\n
Then she sat down.<\/p>\n
"I had no idea."<\/p>\n
The connections multiplied.<\/p>\n
Nina had worked for Dad and Jonathan.<\/p>\n
Nina had been at the hotel.<\/p>\n
Nina had access to financial records.<\/p>\n
Years later, Nina knew Rebecca's ex-husband and Lily.<\/p>\n
And Lily's name eventually appeared on my trust.<\/p>\n
"Did Nina put Lily on the account?"<\/p>\n
Collins didn't answer until investigators checked.<\/p>\n
Then they found a signature.<\/p>\n
N. Vale.<\/p>\n
Eleven months earlier.<\/p>\n
Nina had processed the beneficiary amendment through a financial-services company where she worked.<\/p>\n
"She moved my money."<\/p>\n
"She processed documents that moved it."<\/p>\n
"Same thing."<\/p>\n
"Not legally."<\/p>\n
"Did she know it was mine?"<\/p>\n
"That's what we're asking."<\/p>\n
Nina's second interview was very different.<\/p>\n
She admitted Valerie contacted her the previous year.<\/p>\n
Mom claimed the trust documentation needed correction.<\/p>\n
Nina said she believed her.<\/p>\n
"Why?"<\/p>\n
"Because Valerie provided supporting papers."<\/p>\n
"Forged?"<\/p>\n
"Apparently."<\/p>\n
"Did Nina verify them?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"Why use Lily?"<\/p>\n
Nina claimed Mom told her Lily was my legal name.<\/p>\n
I stared at Collins.<\/p>\n
"That's the stupidest lie yet."<\/p>\n
He didn't disagree.<\/p>\n
"She knew Lily personally."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"She knew I existed."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"Then she knew we were different people."<\/p>\n
"That appears likely."<\/p>\n
Rebecca looked furious.<\/p>\n
"She used my daughter."<\/p>\n
The sentence struck me strangely.<\/p>\n
For once, Rebecca and I were angry about the same thing.<\/p>\n
Nina eventually admitted she knew the amendment was false.<\/p>\n
Mom paid her twenty-five thousand dollars.<\/p>\n
"Where did the hundred eighty thousand go?"<\/p>\n
"Into the custodial account."<\/p>\n
"Why?"<\/p>\n
"To move it beyond immediate reach."<\/p>\n
"Whose reach?"<\/p>\n
"Yours, Valerie's creditors, and anyone reviewing the original trust."<\/p>\n
"So Nina helped hide it."<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
Finally.<\/p>\n
A yes.<\/p>\n
"What did Nina get besides money?"<\/p>\n
"Protection."<\/p>\n
"From what?"<\/p>\n
"Her involvement eleven years ago."<\/p>\n
The room went quiet.<\/p>\n
"What did she do?"<\/p>\n
Collins closed the folder.<\/p>\n
"That is still being investigated."<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"Maya."<\/p>\n
"No. You don't get to tell me she's connected to Dad's death and then send me home."<\/p>\n
Elena touched my arm.<\/p>\n
I pulled away.<\/p>\n
"What did she do?"<\/p>\n
Collins studied me.<\/p>\n
"Nina falsified financial records for Valerie and Jonathan before Daniel died."<\/p>\n
"Did Dad know?"<\/p>\n
"Yes."<\/p>\n
"Was he going to report her?"<\/p>\n
"According to Nina, yes."<\/p>\n
"Then she had a reason to want him quiet."<\/p>\n
"That does not mean she harmed him."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
I said it before he could.<\/p>\n
Nina claimed she left the hotel because she panicked.<\/p>\n
She thought Dad would call police.<\/p>\n
She drove home.<\/p>\n
Her security record supported her arrival.<\/p>\n
But she admitted one more thing.<\/p>\n
Before leaving, she gave Valerie a key.<\/p>\n
"What key?"<\/p>\n
"To Daniel's office."<\/p>\n
"Why?"<\/p>\n
"Valerie wanted to retrieve documents."<\/p>\n
"The second briefcase?"<\/p>\n
"Nina says she didn't know."<\/p>\n
"But Mom already had a briefcase leaving the hotel."<\/p>\n
"Correct."<\/p>\n
"So maybe there were three."<\/p>\n
"Or she carried the same one later referenced."<\/p>\n
Nothing stayed simple.<\/p>\n
That evening, Lily called me.<\/p>\n
It was our first conversation.<\/p>\n
Elena stayed nearby, but she gave me privacy.<\/p>\n
"Hi," Lily said.<\/p>\n
"Hi."<\/p>\n
We both laughed nervously.<\/p>\n
"You look like me," she said.<\/p>\n
"You look like me."<\/p>\n
"Mom says we're cousins."<\/p>\n
"Yeah."<\/p>\n
"That's weird."<\/p>\n
"Very."<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Then Lily said, "I didn't take your money."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
"I didn't even know the account existed."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
"I don't want it."<\/p>\n
"It's not your fault."<\/p>\n
The words came easily.<\/p>\n
I almost stopped speaking afterward.<\/p>\n
Because they sounded exactly like what everyone kept telling me.<\/p>\n
Maybe sometimes a person could be inside a terrible thing without causing it.<\/p>\n
Lily asked whether I hated her mother.<\/p>\n
"I don't know."<\/p>\n
"She cries a lot now."<\/p>\n
"She lied to me."<\/p>\n
"She lies when she's scared."<\/p>\n
"That's not a good excuse."<\/p>\n
"I know."<\/p>\n
Lily was quiet.<\/p>\n
Then she said, "Your mom came to our house once."<\/p>\n
My entire body stiffened.<\/p>\n
"When?"<\/p>\n
"Last year."<\/p>\n
"Are you sure?"<\/p>\n
"Yeah."<\/p>\n
"Did Rebecca know?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"Who was home?"<\/p>\n
"Dad."<\/p>\n
Mark.<\/p>\n
Rebecca's ex-husband.<\/p>\n
"What did Mom want?"<\/p>\n
"I don't know. They argued."<\/p>\n
"About?"<\/p>\n
"I heard your name."<\/p>\n
My pulse raced.<\/p>\n
"What did they say?"<\/p>\n
"I don't remember everything."<\/p>\n
"Try."<\/p>\n
Another pause.<\/p>\n
"Your mom said, 'If Maya ever finds out, we all lose.'"<\/p>\n
I stood.<\/p>\n
"What did Mark say?"<\/p>\n
"He said, 'Then tell her before somebody else does.'"<\/p>\n
"Tell me what?"<\/p>\n
"I don't know."<\/p>\n
"Was Nina there?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
"Did your mom leave anything?"<\/p>\n
Lily thought.<\/p>\n
"A box."<\/p>\n
"What kind?"<\/p>\n
"Metal."<\/p>\n
My mouth went dry.<\/p>\n
"Where is it?"<\/p>\n
"Dad took it."<\/p>\n
"Do you know where?"<\/p>\n
"No."<\/p>\n
Within an hour, investigators contacted Mark.<\/p>\n
He denied receiving a box.<\/p>\n
Then they told him Lily remembered it.<\/p>\n
He asked for a lawyer.<\/p>\n
By midnight, a search warrant was being prepared.<\/p>\n
The next afternoon, officers searched Mark's house and business.<\/p>\n
No metal box.<\/p>\n
But in a rented storage space under his name, they found a fireproof document case.<\/p>\n
Inside were financial papers.<\/p>\n
Copies of Dad's trust.<\/p>\n
Copies of insurance forms.<\/p>\n
Photographs.<\/p>\n
And an envelope sealed eleven years earlier.<\/p>\n
The handwriting on the front belonged to Dad.<\/p>\n
It said:<\/p>\n
DNA RESULTS \u2014 DO NOT OPEN WITHOUT VALERIE.<\/p>\n
My entire body went cold.<\/p>\n
Dad's prenatal testing appointment had been scheduled for two days after his death.<\/p>\n
Yet somewhere, somehow, results existed.<\/p>\n
And my mother had known about them for eleven years.<\/p>\n
Finding the unidentified woman became the center of everything. Arthur remembered dark clothing. Carmen remembered shoulder-length hair. Neither could identify her from photographs of Rebecca or Paula. Jonathan claimed not … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chapter-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6412"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6432,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6412\/revisions\/6432"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}