Chapter 4 - The Body in Clara’s Grave
Daniel called a lawyer before he called police.
Her name was Rebecca Sloan.
She had represented Carter Development on land disputes for eight years and had no connection to Richard’s private matters.
Daniel did not tell her everything by phone.
He said only, “I need you at the Grand Ash Hotel. Room 614. Come alone.”
Rebecca arrived forty minutes later.
When Clara opened the door, the attorney physically stopped.
“Oh my God.”
Clara looked down.
Rebecca covered her mouth.
“I went to your funeral.”
“I know.”
Rebecca entered.
Daniel locked the door again.
For two hours they explained.
Rebecca asked few emotional questions.
She asked dates.
Names.
Documents.
Locations.
Who saw what.
Who heard what.
Daniel understood why he trusted her.
When Clara finished, Rebecca examined the memory card without inserting it anywhere.
“We make a forensic copy before opening this.”
Daniel nodded.
“What about police?”
“We go to someone above the original case team.”
“State bureau?”
“Possibly.”
Clara looked uneasy.
Rebecca noticed.
“You’re afraid of law enforcement.”
“Some of them.”
“That’s reasonable given what you’ve described.”
Leo had fallen asleep under the hotel blanket, one hand still wrapped around Clara’s sleeve.
Rebecca lowered her voice.
“There’s another issue.”
“The body,” Daniel said.
“Yes.”
His stomach tightened.
Rebecca continued.
“If Clara Carter is alive, then the death certificate is wrong, the burial record is wrong and another person may have been buried under Clara’s identity.”
Clara stared at the floor.
Daniel asked, “Can we exhume?”
“Not without a court order.”
“How long?”
“Depends.”
“I want it done immediately.”
Rebecca held his gaze.
“Daniel, that grave contains someone.”
“I know.”
“You need to be prepared for what that means.”
He remembered the morgue.
The body had been badly burned.
Fire damage across the left side of the face.
Swelling.
Hair mostly gone.
The right side had seemed familiar because grief desperately wanted certainty.
Richard had stood beside him.
“You don’t have to look long,” Richard had whispered.
Daniel had seen Clara’s wedding ring.
Her necklace.
Her coat.
A scar near the eyebrow.
Or what he thought was the scar.
Then Detective Brennan told him dental records confirmed the identification.
Daniel had signed.
“I barely looked at her,” he whispered.
Clara watched him.
“I’m sorry.”
Daniel shook his head.
“For what?”
“For making you live with that.”
“You didn’t.”
He looked at her.
“Someone else did.”
Rebecca asked, “Do you remember who supplied the dental records?”
“St. Vincent Dental.”
Clara nodded.
“Elaine Mercer.”
Rebecca wrote the name.
“Still employed?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel searched on his phone.
The practice website listed staff.
No Elaine.
A broader search found an obituary.
Elaine Mercer, forty-nine.
Died eighteen months earlier.
Car accident.
Clara whispered, “No.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You knew her?”
“Only that night.”
Rebecca leaned forward.
“Richard brought her to the warehouse?”
“Yes.”
“And she had your dental records?”
“Yes.”
“Did she seem afraid?”
Clara thought.
“Yes.”
“Of Richard?”
“I assumed so.”
Rebecca wrote another note.
Daniel stared at the obituary date.
Three months before his mother’s death.
Two people connected to Clara’s false death were dead.
Maybe coincidence.
Maybe not.
Rebecca said what all of them were thinking.
“We don’t jump ahead.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“How?”
“By separating facts.”
She counted them.
“Clara is alive.”
“Yes.”
“Someone else was buried under her identity.”
“Yes.”
“The original identification involved dental records from Elaine Mercer’s workplace.”
“Yes.”
“Elaine is dead.”
“Yes.”
“None of that proves Richard killed Elaine.”
Daniel nodded reluctantly.
“What proves anything?”
“The money trail. The recording. Records from the original investigation. And the body.”
Clara looked toward Leo.
“What happens to him?”
Rebecca softened.
“Leo?”
“Yes.”
“Nothing unless there’s a custody issue.”
“There isn’t.”
Daniel answered immediately.
Rebecca looked between them.
“You two need to discuss that privately.”
Daniel had not even considered custody.
His wife had been legally dead for three years.
Her legal identity had to be restored.
Their marriage?
Was he still married?
Technically yes, Rebecca believed, because a false death declaration should not dissolve a valid marriage.
But practical questions remained.
Clara had been absent.
Daniel had been sole parent.
Leo barely remembered daily life with her.
Love did not erase three years.
Clara seemed to understand.
“I won’t take him anywhere.”
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
Clara looked uncertain.
Daniel hated that too.
His phone buzzed.
Richard.
The name filled the screen.
Everyone looked.
Daniel answered.
“Hey.”
Richard sounded cheerful.
“You disappeared. Leo’s dentist appointment okay?”
Daniel glanced at his supposedly dead wife.
“Fine.”
“We’re still on for dinner?”
Daniel remembered.
Richard had expected them at seven.
He forced his voice steady.
“No. Leo’s tired.”
“Everything okay?”
“Yes.”
Pause.
Richard had always been good at hearing what people tried to hide.
“You sound strange.”
“Long day.”
“Want me to stop by?”
“No.”
Another pause.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“Aster Ridge called.”
Every muscle in Daniel’s body tightened.
Richard continued.
“They want to move Thursday’s meeting.”
Daniel stared at Clara.
He had never heard of the meeting.
“What meeting?”
Silence.
Then Richard laughed.
“The refinancing meeting.”
Daniel said nothing.
Richard recovered quickly.
“I thought Kelly sent the calendar invite.”
“She didn’t.”
“My mistake.”
Daniel forced himself to breathe.
“Send me the documents.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
“You hate reviewing that stuff at night.”
“Send them.”
Richard paused.
“Sure.”
Daniel ended the call.
Rebecca looked at him.
“He slipped.”
“Yes.”
Clara whispered, “He thinks you still don’t know.”
Daniel looked toward the locked hotel door.
“For the first time in three years…”
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His voice hardened.
“…Richard is the one missing information.”
