Chapter 8 - The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be Dead Our attorney, Susan Bell, arrived that afternoon.
She brought documents Claire had prepared six weeks before disappearing.
“If Claire dies before Noah turns eighteen,” Susan said, “her voting shares transfer to him.”
“How many?”
“Enough, combined with yours, to give you controlling interest.”
I looked at the death certificate.
Then at Susan.
“Why hasn't that happened?”
“Because legally…”
She paused.
“Claire isn't dead.”
I stared at her.
“The county has no filed death certificate. No probate. No official death record.”
My skin went cold.
The document had been designed to create a death without creating one.
Someone wanted Claire dead only when it was convenient.
And alive whenever they needed her identity.
Susan opened another file.
“Someone has used Claire's digital signature eleven times since she disappeared.”
The latest transaction was the sale of a Carter Meridian subsidiary.
Seventy million dollars.
The buyer?
A company connected to Vanessa.
Before I could speak, a video appeared online.
Claire was sitting in front of a white wall.
Alive.
“I left because I was afraid of my brother Daniel.”
My stomach dropped.
Noah shook his head.
“That's not Mom.”
He was right.
The voice was almost perfect.
But Claire had a habit of rushing certain words.
This woman didn't.
Forensic analysts confirmed it.
Face replacement.
Synthetic voice manipulation.
Someone had built a fake Claire.
Then they enhanced the background.
In the reflection of a television screen stood Vanessa.
And behind her was a room I recognized.
Her mother's condo on Harbor Street.
Ruiz issued the warrant.
Vanessa was gone.
But the apartment contained wigs, voice recordings, face-capture equipment, Claire's passport, and files labeled:
DANIEL.
NOAH.
BOARD.
BANK.
One folder contained a script for the following week.
Daniel has become unstable.
I authorize Elliot Price to exercise my full voting proxy.
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They weren't simply trying to hide a murder.
They were preparing to steal an entire company.
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