Chapter 16 - The Dead Aunt
Evelyn Mercer was Robert’s younger sister.
Officially, she died of cancer at forty-six.
Daniel remembered her only vaguely.
She had lived overseas.
She rarely visited.
Margaret insisted the company on the microfilm could not belong to her.
Then Daniel’s investigators uncovered the truth.
Evelyn Mercer had not died when the family announced it.
The death notice had been fabricated.
There was no matching death certificate.
No burial record.
No hospital record.
Only a private obituary arranged through a Mercer attorney.
Daniel looked at Margaret.
“You knew?”
“No.”
For once, Emily believed her.
The investigators traced Evelyn’s company through shell corporations.
The latest transaction had occurred only two months earlier.
Someone was still using it.
Then Emily remembered Robert’s cassette.
Do not trust anyone who tells you Margaret sent them.
Maybe Robert had not meant Charles.
Maybe he had meant Evelyn.
Daniel searched old family correspondence.
A pattern emerged.
Evelyn and Robert had once controlled Mercer Holdings together.
When their father died, Robert received fifty-one percent of the family voting rights.
Evelyn received forty-nine.
Three years later, Evelyn surrendered most of her authority.
Nobody knew why.
Then she vanished.
Emily asked, “What happened between them?”
Margaret finally remembered a dinner.
Robert and Evelyn had argued violently.
Evelyn accused him of stealing from the foundation.
Robert accused Evelyn of blackmail.
The argument happened weeks before Anna was framed.
Daniel stared at the documents.
“Charles didn’t create the original scheme.”
Emily nodded.
“He learned how to profit from someone else’s war.”
They examined the microfilm again.
The two-hundred-thousand-dollar payment on the night Robert died originated from a Vale-controlled account.
Recipient.
Evelyn’s shell company.
Purpose.
Consulting.
Emily laughed bitterly.
“People love that word when they don’t want to explain money.”
At three in the morning, Daniel’s investigator found a current address connected to Evelyn.
A private nursing residence in Vermont.
Daniel called.
A nurse answered.
He asked for Evelyn Mercer.
There was a long pause.
Then the nurse said, “She left yesterday.”
“Where did she go?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who picked her up?”
“Her daughter.”
Daniel froze.
“Our family records show Evelyn never had children.”
The nurse sounded confused.
“She has one daughter.”
“What’s her name?”
Papers rustled.
Then came the answer.
“Vanessa Vale.”
Emily stared at Daniel.
Suddenly the entire story changed again.
Vanessa was not merely Charles Vale’s daughter.
May you like
She was Evelyn Mercer’s daughter too.
And that made Vanessa a Mercer by blood.
