Chapter 12 - THE WOMAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
I was out of the chair before the video ended.
"Where is Toby?"
Martin pointed toward the adjoining room.
"Two officers, one hotel security supervisor, door locked."
I went anyway.
Toby sat on the carpet building a tower from paper cups.
He looked up.
"Grandpa, look."
I knelt and wrapped my arms around him.
He laughed because he thought I was playing.
I held him tighter.
"Grandpa, squish."
"Sorry."
I kissed his hair.
One of the officers watched me with sympathy.
"No one comes in unless Detective Ruiz approves personally."
"Not even me?"
"Especially you if she tells me not to."
"Good."
I returned to the conference room.
Ruiz was speaking to the hospital.
Genevieve had already been moved to a secure floor under an alias.
Helen remained with her.
No medical information would be released by phone.
No flowers.
No visitors.
No exceptions.
I sat across from Linda.
"Tell us about Rachel."
Linda stared at her hands.
"She was my older sister."
"How much older?"
"Four years."
"How did she know Evelyn?"
"Through Victor."
"Everything comes through Victor."
"That is what he wanted."
"What did Rachel do?"
"She was a document examiner."
Martin frowned.
"For law enforcement?"
"Insurance fraud originally."
"And then?"
"Private work."
"Meaning forgery."
Linda nodded.
"She told herself she was testing security systems."
Ruiz gave a humorless smile.
"People have creative names for crimes."
Linda continued.
"Rachel could imitate signatures, create believable document histories, make old forms look newly discovered."
"Did she forge Caroline's records?"
"Some."
My fists tightened.
"Did she forge mine?"
"Yes."
"When did she start?"
"Six years ago."
I looked toward Martin.
"Six years of practice."
He nodded grimly.
Linda's voice dropped.
"Caroline caught Rachel copying donor signatures."
"What happened?"
"Caroline threatened to report everyone."
"And?"
"Rachel disappeared."
"You said Victor told you she died."
"Three months later."
"How?"
"Car accident in Nevada."
Ruiz asked, "Did you see a death certificate?"
"Victor showed me one."
Martin laughed bitterly.
"A death certificate shown to the sister of a professional forger."
Linda covered her face.
"I know how it sounds now."
"How did it sound then?" I asked.
"Like my sister was dead and my husband was being threatened."
Her voice cracked.
I stopped pushing.
Ruiz requested a records check on Rachel Marlowe.
While she waited, I opened the USB and searched for Rachel's name.
There were three hits.
One in the MARLOWE folder.
Two in MOM.
The first was a photograph of four women outside Caroline's foundation office.
Linda.
Caroline.
A woman I now recognized as a younger Evelyn.
And another woman with Linda's eyes and darker hair.
Rachel.
Toby had probably seen the hospital intruder only briefly, but Genevieve would have recognized the resemblance immediately.
The second file was an email from Caroline to Martin.
I stared at his name.
"Martin."
He leaned over.
"What?"
"Caroline emailed you about Rachel."
His face changed.
"When?"
"Six years ago."
I opened it.
Martin,
I need to speak with you privately about irregular documents involving Thomas's signature.
Please do not copy Victor or anyone at Vance Capital.
I am not yet prepared to involve Thomas until I can show him the originals.
Can you meet Tuesday morning?
Martin sank into a chair.
"I never saw this."
"Check your archive."
He did.
Nothing.
"It isn't there."
"Did you meet her Tuesday?"
"No."
"Why?"
He stared at the screen.
"Because I was in court in Philadelphia."
"Would Caroline have known?"
"Yes."
"Then why ask to meet?"
Martin thought.
"Maybe she expected my assistant to schedule around it."
"Who was your assistant?"
He froze.
I saw the answer before he said it.
"Rachel Marlowe."
Linda gasped.
Martin shook his head.
"She used the name Rachel Morris."
"How long did she work for you?"
"Eight months."
"When?"
"Six years ago."
The room seemed to tighten around us.
"You employed the forger who was copying my signature?"
Martin stood.
"I did not know who she was."
"Did she have access to my files?"
"Not directly."
"That was not my question."
"She had administrative access to my calendar and document system."
I stared at him.
"Including my estate documents?"
"Archived versions, possibly."
"My power of attorney?"
"Possibly."
"My signature samples?"
"Thomas, every signed document contains a signature sample."
I turned away.
This was how a long plan worked.
Not one dramatic break-in.
Not one stolen folder.
A receptionist here.
A consultant there.
A trusted driver.
A girlfriend holding a phone.
Small access points collected until a person's entire life became transparent.
Ruiz's phone buzzed.
She read the records response.
"Rachel Marlowe was declared dead five years ago."
Linda closed her eyes.
"Declared?"
"Vehicle fire. Identification was based on dental records."
"Can dental records be forged?" I asked.
Ruiz looked at Martin.
"Anything can be forged badly."
Martin answered.
"And some things can be forged well."
Ruiz continued.
"No body photographs in the immediate digital file. Full case archive will take time."
Linda whispered.
"She is alive."
"Maybe," Ruiz said.
"Genevieve saw her."
"Genevieve saw a woman who resembled you."
Linda stood.
"It was Rachel."
"Sit down."
"You don't understand her."
"Then help me."
Linda looked toward the door.
"Rachel doesn't threaten children."
I felt anger rise.
"She just left a threat about my grandson."
"No."
"You think Genevieve invented it?"
"I think Rachel left the envelope."
"That is the same thing."
"Not necessarily."
Ruiz narrowed her eyes.
"Explain."
Linda rubbed her forehead.
"Rachel used to pass warnings inside hostile instructions."
"What does that mean?"
"If Victor forced her to deliver something, she would change one detail."
"What detail?"
"A word, a fold, a mark."
I called Genevieve.
Helen answered and put her on speaker.
"Look at the envelope," Linda said.
Genevieve sounded confused.
"Okay."
"Is there anything drawn inside the flap?"
Paper rustled.
Then Genevieve went silent.
"There is a little bird."
Linda began crying.
"She's alive."
"What bird?" Ruiz asked.
"A wren."
"Why?"
"Our mother called Rachel Wren when we were children."
"What does it mean?"
Linda looked at the message on Genevieve's video.
GIVE BACK THE DRIVE OR TOBY DISAPPEARS NEXT.
"It means don't obey the message."
"How do you know?"
"Because the bird means the opposite."
I had reached the limit of my patience with secret family codes.
"Then what is she warning us about?"
Genevieve answered from the phone.
"Maybe the drive isn't what they want."
Everyone looked toward the USB.
I felt a shift in the room.
"What else did you find today?" I asked her.
Genevieve was silent.
"Genevieve."
"A key."
Linda stood so fast her chair fell backward.
"What key?"
"Brass."
"Where is it?"
"I gave it to Toby."
My heart stopped.
"When?"
"Before Evelyn found me."
I remembered Linda searching her pockets after the fake guard grabbed her.
The key had not been stolen from Linda.
She had already given it to Genevieve before the alarm.
Genevieve had passed it to Toby.
The man had searched the wrong person.
"Where did Toby put it?" I asked.
Genevieve gave a tired laugh.
"Ask him."
I went into the adjoining room.
Toby looked up from his paper cup tower.
"Buddy, Mommy gave you a key today."
He nodded.
"Do you still have it?"
He shook his head.
My stomach dropped.
"Where is it?"
He pointed toward the ballroom.
"I put it in Grandpa's present."
"What present?"
"Wedding present."
I stared at him.
The ballroom had an entire table stacked with gifts.
More than sixty boxes and bags.
May you like
And for the last hour, guests, staff, police, Evelyn, Victor, and whoever else was involved had all been moving through that room.
