Chapter 5 - THE MAN EVERYONE SAID WAS DEAD
We found Thomas Carter in a small town in Oregon.
He was alive.
Very much alive.
And when he saw me, he began crying.
“You look just like your father.”
I didn't know what to say.
For twenty years, I had believed my father's family had disappeared.
Thomas explained that after my father's death, Margaret had told him never to contact me.
She claimed I wanted nothing to do with him.
He had believed her.
Then he told us what happened.
My father had discovered Margaret was transferring company money into private accounts.
He planned to divorce her.
He also planned to expose her.
But before he could, he died.
Thomas had never believed the death was natural.
“There was something wrong with the records,” he said.
“What?”
“The life insurance policy.”
I stared at him.
Thomas explained that my father had changed the beneficiary shortly before his death.
He had removed Margaret.
He had named me.
But the document had vanished.
Margaret had claimed the change was never completed.
Thomas believed she had destroyed the paperwork.
Then he gave me a box.
Inside was my father's old watch.
A stack of letters.
And a sealed envelope.
My name was written on it.
The letter had been written two days before my father's death.
I opened it.
My father had written that he feared Margaret.
He had discovered that money was being transferred through several accounts.
He had hidden copies of the evidence.
The final sentence made my heart stop.
If I die before I can tell Daniel the truth, the evidence is hidden where Margaret believes no one would ever look.
Thomas looked at me.
“Where did your father spend most of his time?”
I thought about it.
Then I remembered.
My childhood home had a small Christmas storage room.
My mother had always refused to let anyone enter it.
She said it was full of old decorations.
We returned to Ohio.
The house was now owned by Margaret.
She refused to let us inside.
So Samuel obtained a court order.
The search began the next morning.
Behind a false wall, investigators discovered dozens of boxes.
Inside were financial records.
Letters.
Photographs.
And a tape recording.
My father's voice filled the room.
“Margaret believes I don't know what she's doing.”
Then another voice answered.
Margaret's.
“You should have stayed out of my business.”
My blood turned cold.
The recording continued.
My father had confronted her.
He had threatened to expose her.
Margaret had threatened him back.
Then the recording ended.
But investigators found something else.
A second tape.
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The label read:
IF I AM DEAD.
