I didn't sleep after watching Evelyn's recording.
Every time I closed my eyes, I heard her voice.
I could still see her sitting in our old kitchen, wearing the blue sweater I'd bought her.
She had known something terrible was coming.
And somehow, she had found a way to leave us evidence.
I kept the second memory card beside my laptop.
I didn't want it out of my sight.
At seven that morning, Detective Harris called.
"Grant, are you awake?"
"I haven't slept."
"We've located some information about Rebecca."
I sat upright.
"What did you find?"
He explained that Rebecca's death had been recorded nineteen years earlier.
But the documents contained inconsistencies.
There was no verified burial record.
There was no hospital record confirming her death.
And the signature on the final certificate didn't match the signature on her earlier identification documents.
"Are you telling me she's alive?"
"I'm telling you we have reason to believe she may be."
I looked toward the guest room.
Hallie was still asleep with her grandmother.
"Can you find her?"
"We're working on it."
I thanked him.
Then I called Marlene.
She came downstairs carrying two cups of coffee.
"Any news?"
"They think Rebecca might be alive."
Marlene placed one cup in front of me.
"Then we need to find her before Raymond does."
I nodded.
That was exactly what frightened me.
Raymond knew we'd discovered the photographs.
He knew about the memory cards.
He also knew Evelyn had left something behind.
I wondered how much time we had.
A few minutes later, Hallie appeared in the kitchen.
She was wearing one of Evelyn's old sweatshirts.
Her hair was still messy from sleeping.
"Good morning, Dad."
I smiled.
"Good morning, sweetheart."
She sat beside me.
Then she noticed the memory card.
"Did you find out who Rebecca is?"
I explained what Detective Harris had said.
Hallie listened quietly.
Then she asked something I hadn't considered.
"If she's Mom's sister, why didn't Mom tell us?"
I didn't have an answer.
I looked at the photograph again.
Two young women standing outside a hospital.
They looked happy.
They looked like family.
And yet one had apparently spent nineteen years hidden from the world.
I turned the photograph over.
The handwriting was unmistakably Evelyn's.
Rebecca.
My sister.
Please forgive me.
I wondered what had happened between them.
Around ten, Detective Harris arrived with another officer.
He brought a folder.
Inside were copies of old records connected to Rebecca's reported death.
The address listed on the certificate belonged to a hospital that had closed years earlier.
The doctor named on the document had died before the certificate was supposedly signed.
Harris pointed to another page.
"This company handled the paperwork."
North Ridge Security.
I recognized the name from the video.
It was the company whose emblem had appeared in the reflection behind Raymond.
"How did a security company become involved in a death certificate?"
Harris shook his head.
"That's one of the things we're investigating."
He asked permission to copy Evelyn's photographs.
I agreed.
He also wanted the original memory cards secured.
I hesitated.
Those were the last recordings I had of my wife.
Harris understood.
"We'll make verified copies and return the originals through the proper process."
I handed them over.
He promised they would be protected.
Before leaving, he asked whether Patricia had contacted me again.
"No."
"Don't respond if she does. Let us know immediately."
I nodded.
After the officers left, Hallie came downstairs.
She had been listening from the hallway.
"Dad?"
"Yes?"
"Can I ask Grandma something about Mom?"
I looked toward Diane.
She was sitting near the window.
"Of course."
Hallie walked over.
"Grandma, did Mom ever talk about having a sister?"
Diane went very still.
I noticed.
Walter looked up from his newspaper.
Then Diane put down her cup.
"Why are you asking?"
Hallie explained about the photograph.
Her grandmother closed her eyes.
When she opened them, they were wet.
"I wondered when this day would come."
I moved closer.
"You knew about Rebecca?"
Diane nodded.
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
She looked toward Hallie.
"Because Evelyn asked us not to."
I felt another wave of confusion.
"What happened?"
Diane took a breath.
She explained that Evelyn and Rebecca had been very close when they were young.
But something happened after Rebecca became involved with Raymond.
Rebecca discovered that he was using people's identities to arrange fraudulent insurance policies.
She tried to report him.
Instead, she disappeared.
Evelyn believed Raymond had arranged her sister's death to silence her.
But she never found proof.
"Did you know Rebecca was alive?"
Diane shook her head.
"We hoped she was."
Walter finally spoke.
"Your wife received a letter from her several months before the accident."
I looked at him.
"What letter?"
He rubbed his forehead.
"Evelyn showed it to us. Rebecca said she had information about Raymond and needed to meet her."
"Did they meet?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
Walter couldn't remember the exact address.
But he remembered the name of the town.
Redfield.
I wrote it down.
Detective Harris returned my call a little later.
I told him about the letter.
He asked Walter to describe it.
Then he asked whether we still had the envelope.
Diane shook her head.
She had given it back to Evelyn years earlier.
Harris said he would investigate the location.
That afternoon, I sat with Hallie in the backyard.
The camper was still visible from where we were staying.
She looked at it for a long time.
Then she turned toward me.
"Do you think Mom knew Lenora was going to hurt me?"
I took a breath.
"I don't know, sweetheart."
"She left all those things for us."
"She wanted to protect you."
Hallie nodded.
I held her hand.
She leaned against my shoulder.
For a while, we watched the trees move in the wind.
Then my phone vibrated.
It was Detective Harris.
He had located an address in Redfield connected to Rebecca.
The property had been registered under another name.
But a recent utility record showed that somebody was still using it.
He said they were sending officers to investigate.
I looked at Hallie.
"There's a chance we'll finally learn what happened."
She nodded.
And for the first time since I'd found her in that camper, I felt that we were moving toward an answer.
Click here to continue reading: PART 10: Patricia Finally Agreed to Speak, but Her First Explanation Made Me Question Everything I Had Believed About Evelyn’s Final Night
I Thought I Was Bringing My Daughter the Best Birthday Surprise, Until I Opened the Door to the Bedroom That No Longer Belonged to Her
Part 9 of 20
