Chapter 5 - THE DEATH CERTIFICATE THAT LIED
Emily stared at the forged death certificate until the letters seemed to move.
Laura Carter.
Date of death: November 17.
Cause: Accidental drowning.
Signed by Dr. Peter Lawson.
Except Peter Lawson had been dead for three years when the certificate was supposedly issued.
"Someone wanted the world to believe my mother died," Emily whispered.
Daniel stood beside the conference table, his expression grim.
"Yes."
Margaret signed something so rapidly that Emily almost missed it.
"Richard told me Laura moved to California."
Daniel looked toward his mother.
"You never knew about the certificate?"
Margaret shook her head.
"No."
Her face crumpled.
"He told me Laura was alive but refused to contact us."
Emily felt tears sting her eyes.
For seventeen years, Ruth had believed Laura abandoned her daughter.
For seventeen years, Margaret had believed Laura disappeared voluntarily.
Two women.
Two different lies.
One missing mother.
"Where's my grandmother?" Emily asked suddenly.
Daniel frowned.
"At home, I assume."
Emily reached for her phone.
She called Ruth.
No answer.
She tried again.
Nothing.
That wasn't like Grandma.
Ruth always answered her video calls, even if she needed a few moments to notice the flashing screen.
Emily's breathing quickened.
"I need to go home."
Daniel nodded.
"I'll have someone arrange transportation."
"I can take the bus."
"You can. But it's raining heavily, and I can offer a car if you'd prefer."
Emily looked at him.
He wasn't ordering her.
He was asking.
"Fine," she whispered.
Twenty minutes later, they reached Ruth's apartment in Rogers Park.
The building was old, with uneven steps and a narrow elevator that sometimes refused to work.
Emily hurried upstairs.
"Grandma?"
The apartment door was locked.
She used her key.
Inside, everything looked ordinary.
Ruth's knitting lay beside the couch.
A half-finished cup of tea sat on the kitchen table.
But the television was on, and Grandma was nowhere to be seen.
Emily felt cold.
Then she noticed a folded note near the window.
Written in Ruth's familiar handwriting were five words.
Emily, do not trust Richard.
Beneath them was an address.
A storage facility on West Belmont Avenue.
Daniel leaned closer.
"Do you recognize it?"
Emily shook her head.
Then her phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
Ruth sat in a chair inside an unfamiliar room.
She looked frightened but unharmed.
Beneath the image was a message.
STOP ASKING QUESTIONS, OR YOU WILL NEVER SEE HER AGAIN.
Emily covered her mouth.
Then another message arrived.
Ask Daniel what happened to his sister.
Emily slowly turned toward him.
"Sister?"
Daniel's face drained.
He looked at the screen.
May you like
Then whispered, "My sister died twenty years ago."
And Margaret, standing behind them, began shaking her head.
