Chapter 9
Catherine Hale disappeared in 1989.
That was the first fact.
The second was worse.
Linda had spent nearly four decades pretending Catherine never existed.
Thomas remembered her clearly.
“She was five years older than Linda.”
“Why did you never mention her?” Daniel asked.
Thomas looked confused.
“I thought you knew.”
“My mother told me she was an only child.”
“She wasn’t.”
Daniel paced around the attorney’s office.
“What happened to Catherine?”
Thomas rubbed his jaw.
“She married Charles Mason young.”
“Eric’s father.”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
“They separated.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did she have children?”
Thomas hesitated.
“One.”
Everyone became still.
Daniel looked toward the DNA report.
“A son?”
“Yes.”
“What was his name?”
Thomas’s face went pale as understanding reached him.
“Michael.”
Daniel whispered, “Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
The attorney looked at the DNA results again.
“If Catherine was Linda’s sister and Michael was Catherine’s son, that could explain some familial connection depending on additional relationships.”
“But Eric?”
Thomas shook his head.
“Eric isn’t Michael.”
“How do you know?”
“I met Michael.”
“How old was he?”
“Five or six.”
“Eric is only three years younger than me.”
Thomas did the math.
His expression changed.
“That fits.”
Daniel stared.
“Fits what?”
“Eric could be Michael.”
Silence.
“No,” Daniel said.
Thomas continued carefully.
“After Catherine disappeared, Charles moved.”
“To Arizona?”
“Eventually.”
“What happened to Michael?”
“I was told he went with his father.”
Daniel sat.
“So Eric Mason may have been born Michael Hale.”
We waited for official confirmation.
It came hours later.
Eric’s childhood records had gaps.
His birth certificate had been amended.
His original first name was Michael.
Eric Mason was Daniel’s cousin.
Linda knew.
Eric apparently did not.
When police confronted him, his attorney requested another interview.
This time Eric told everything.
Daniel listened through a recorded statement authorized for investigative purposes.
“I met Linda when I was twenty-three,” Eric said.
“She came into the restaurant where I worked.”
Daniel stared at the screen.
Eric continued.
“She knew my father’s name. Said she knew him years ago. Said our families had been close.”
“Did she tell you Catherine was your mother?” Detective Alvarez asked.
“No.”
“When did you learn?”
“Today.”
“Why did you work with Linda to move money from Daniel’s company?”
Eric covered his face.
“Because she told me Daniel stole from my father.”
Daniel whispered, “What?”
Eric continued.
“She said Thomas and Daniel had destroyed our family financially.”
Alvarez asked, “Daniel was a child when your family separated.”
“I know that now.”
“When did Linda tell you this?”
“Last year.”
“What exactly did she say?”
“She said Daniel inherited money that belonged to us.”
Thomas shook his head.
“No.”
Eric continued.
“She said if I helped recover it, I would get what my father was owed.”
Daniel looked sick.
“So you stole from me.”
Eric’s expression hardened on-screen.
“I thought I was taking back stolen money.”
Alvarez asked, “Did you verify Linda’s claims?”
Eric looked down.
“No.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
I looked at him.
The irony was painful.
Eric had done exactly what Daniel had done.
Believed Linda because belief was easier than verification.
Eric continued.
“She knew things about my childhood nobody else knew.”
“Because she was your aunt,” Alvarez said.
Eric stared at the table.
“I didn’t know.”
“What happened to your mother?”
“I was told she abandoned us.”
“By who?”
“My father.”
Alvarez asked, “Did Linda ever mention Catherine?”
“No.”
“Did she ask you to travel to Costa Rica?”
Eric’s jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
Daniel stared.
So the ticket wasn’t a complete setup.
“What did she tell you?”
“She said the investigation was getting dangerous.”
“What investigation?”
“She said Daniel had discovered financial irregularities and would blame me.”
“That part was true.”
Eric nodded.
“She said we needed to leave for a few weeks.”
“And Sophie?”
Eric looked confused.
“I didn’t know Sophie was coming.”
My skin went cold.
Alvarez leaned forward.
“You’re certain?”
“Yes.”
“I would never involve a child.”
I wanted to believe that.
I didn’t yet.
Then Alvarez asked the question that changed the direction again.
“Did Linda ever say what happened to Catherine?”
Eric looked up.
“Once.”
Thomas leaned toward the screen.
“What did she say?”
Eric swallowed.
“She said Catherine ruined everything.”
Alvarez waited.
“And?”
“She said Catherine made one selfish choice and destroyed two families.”
“What choice?”
“She didn’t explain.”
Then Eric remembered something.
“At the cabin.”
“What cabin?”
“Linda’s Wisconsin place.”
“What about it?”
“She had a picture.”
“Of Catherine?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“In the basement.”
My pulse quickened.
Police had searched the cabin.
But apparently not everything had been recognized as relevant.
Alvarez immediately called the Wisconsin team.
They returned.
Behind a loose panel in the basement, they found a metal box.
Inside were photographs.
Letters.
And Catherine’s journal.
The journal ended three days before she disappeared.
The final entries were disturbing.
Not because they described violence.
Because they described fear.
Linda knows.
Charles says we should tell Thomas ourselves.
I don’t trust her anymore.
She says I destroyed her marriage, but there was never anything between me and Thomas.
She won’t believe me.
Another entry:
Linda followed me today.
She said Michael would be better off without me.
I’m scared.
Then the final page:
If something happens, find the lake house.
Thomas read the line three times.
“What lake house?”
Detective Alvarez looked at him.
“Do you know?”
He shook his head.
Daniel asked, “Could she mean the Wisconsin cabin?”
“No,” Alvarez said. “Linda bought that much later.”
Thomas became thoughtful.
“Charles’s family had a place near Lake Delavan.”
Alvarez immediately searched records.
The property had been sold in 1991.
Two years after Catherine disappeared.
Police contacted the current owner.
Permission for a search required legal steps.
Those began.
While investigators worked, something unexpected happened.
Linda requested to speak to Daniel.
He refused.
Then she asked to speak to me.
I laughed when my attorney told me.
“No.”
“She says she’ll provide information about Catherine.”
“Then she can tell police.”
“She insists she’ll only tell you.”
“Why?”
“She says you’re the only person in the family who understands her.”
That almost made me angry enough to go.
Almost.
Then my attorney said, “You don’t owe her anything.”
I knew.
Still, Catherine had disappeared.
If Linda knew what happened, refusing might delay answers.
I agreed on one condition.
Police present.
Recorded.
No Sophie.
No Daniel.
Linda entered the interview room in jail clothing.
She sat across from me.
For the first time since I had known her, she looked small.
Then she smiled.
“Rachel.”
I said nothing.
“You finally got Daniel away from me.”
“This isn’t about Daniel.”
“It’s always about Daniel.”
“No.”
I leaned forward.
“This is about Catherine.”
Her smile disappeared.
“So they found the journal.”
“Yes.”
“You think I killed her.”
“Did you?”
Linda laughed.
“You never waste time.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why did she fear you?”
Linda stared at me.
“Because she was guilty.”
“Of what?”
“Everything.”
I waited.
Linda’s eyes became wet.
“She wanted what I had.”
“Thomas?”
She looked away.
“You accused her of sleeping with him.”
“She did.”
“Thomas says she didn’t.”
“Thomas was a fool.”
“Did you have proof?”
“She was always around.”
“That isn’t proof.”
“She understood him.”
Something clicked.
Jealousy.
Not an affair.
Fear of one.
“What happened the night Catherine disappeared?”
Linda became silent.
“You were there.”
Her eyes snapped toward me.
“How do you know?”
“I didn’t.”
I watched her.
“You just told me.”
Her face changed.
Detective Alvarez shifted behind the glass.
Linda realized her mistake.
“What happened?”
“I went to talk.”
“At the lake house?”
Silence.
“Linda.”
“She was leaving.”
“With Michael?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She wanted to take him away from Charles.”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
“You followed her.”
“I tried to stop her.”
“How?”
Linda’s breathing changed.
“She ran.”
“Where?”
“Toward the dock.”
My stomach tightened.
“What happened?”
“She slipped.”
I stared.
“Into the lake?”
Linda shook her head.
“No.”
“Then what?”
“She hit her head.”
The room went still.
“Did you call an ambulance?”
Linda’s eyes filled with tears.
“She wasn’t breathing.”
“Did you call anyone?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Charles arrived.”
“What did he do?”
Linda whispered, “He said everything would be blamed on me.”
“What happened to Catherine’s body?”
Linda closed her eyes.
Then said, “Ask Charles.”
Before I could respond, Detective Alvarez entered.
The interview ended.
Police in Arizona moved immediately to detain Charles for questioning.
A search warrant followed.
Then investigators searched the old lake property.
Hours passed.
The next morning, Alvarez called.
Her voice was quiet.
“They found human remains.”
I sat down.
“Catherine?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Where?”
“Near the old dock.”
I closed my eyes.
Almost forty years.
A woman erased from her family.
A child told his mother abandoned him.
A sister pretending she never existed.
Daniel called shortly afterward.
I told him.
He became silent.
Then he said, “My mother destroys people and rewrites the story.”
“Yes.”
“My father.”
“Yes.”
“Catherine.”
“Yes.”
“You.”
“Yes.”
“Sophie.”
“She tried.”
That word mattered.
Tried.
She had not succeeded.
Daniel whispered, “I almost helped her do it to you.”
The admission hurt.
“I know.”
“I don’t know how you’ll ever forgive me.”
“I don’t either.”
He breathed shakily.
Then said something different from all his previous apologies.
“I won’t ask you to.”
I closed my eyes.
That mattered too.
Two days later, DNA confirmed the remains belonged to Catherine Hale.
Eric learned his mother had never abandoned him.
He cried during another interview.
Charles finally admitted he helped conceal her death.
He claimed Linda caused the fall.
Linda claimed Catherine slipped.
Prosecutors would decide what could be proved.
But the truth about the cover-up was finally emerging.
Then Detective Alvarez found one final document inside Catherine’s metal box.
A letter addressed to Thomas.
Never sent.
Thomas opened it with shaking hands.
He read silently.
Then handed it to Daniel.
Daniel read.
His face changed.
“What?”
I asked.
He looked at Thomas.
Then at me.
“Catherine knew Linda was stealing money.”
Thomas stared.
“From my company?”
“Yes.”
“She wrote down how.”
Daniel turned the page.
“And she named the person helping her.”
“Charles?”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“Who?”
May you like
His voice became quiet.
“Linda’s mother.”
