Chapter 4 - THE BLUE ENVELOPE
Nathan was waiting at Evelyn’s house when Daniel arrived.
He stood in the driveway with his arms folded.
“You met her.”
Daniel got out of the car.
“You lied.”
Nathan did not deny it this time.
“I was trying to control the situation.”
“You told a woman claiming to be our sister that I called her a fake daughter.”
“I was buying time.”
“For what?”
“To figure out what Mom had done.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“What did she do?”
Nathan's jaw tightened.
“She let a stranger into her life when she was sick.”
“She gave birth to that stranger.”
“You don't know that.”
“I saw the adoption record.”
“You saw a copy.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“That was my line too.”
Nathan looked toward the house.
“Mom was vulnerable.”
“You met Laura before Mom's stroke.”
Nathan said nothing.
“Security footage.”
That landed.
Daniel continued.
“You were at the storage unit before the sale.”
“I helped prepare it.”
“You told me you weren't there.”
“I knew how you'd react.”
“No. You knew what I'd ask.”
Nathan’s patience broke.
“Fine. Ask.”
“Why did Mom tell Laura not to let you touch the cedar chest?”
Nathan’s face changed.
Only slightly.
Daniel saw it.
“You know about the chest.”
“Everybody knows that chest.”
“What was in the blue envelope?”
Nathan looked at him for three seconds too long.
Then he said, “I don't know what you're talking about.”
Daniel left without entering the house.
That afternoon, Lisa called.
She had reviewed footage from the night before the estate sale.
Daniel and Laura met her in the storage office.
At 1:11 a.m., the rear door opened.
Nathan entered.
Alone.
He walked directly to Unit 214.
The hallway camera did not show the inside, but for thirteen minutes Nathan moved objects near the entrance.
Then he emerged holding a rectangular banker’s box.
He carried it to his SUV.
Returned.
Five minutes later, he stepped out again.
This time there was no box.
Just a thin blue envelope.
Laura whispered, “Oh my God.”
Nathan slipped it inside his jacket.
Lisa stopped the footage.
Daniel stared at the frozen frame.
“Can you export this?”
“I already saved it.”
Daniel looked at Laura.
“He knew exactly where it was.”
Laura's face had gone pale.
“What if that was the legal packet?”
“Then we find out what was in it.”
They started with Evelyn’s estate attorney.
Carol Voss had represented Evelyn for six years.
Her office was above a pharmacy downtown.
She looked tired when Daniel placed a photograph of the blue envelope on her desk.
“Where did you get this?”
“Storage security footage.”
Carol removed her glasses.
“Nathan told me the storage unit contained only household items.”
“What was in the envelope?”
“I don't know.”
“Did Mom change her will?”
Carol hesitated.
Daniel leaned forward.
“You represent the estate. I am a beneficiary.”
“You are.”
“Then stop protecting my brother.”
“I am not protecting Nathan.”
She looked toward Laura.
“But I need to know who she is.”
Laura placed the adoption documents and Evelyn’s letters on the desk.
Carol read quietly.
Her expression shifted on the second letter.
“You've seen this handwriting before,” Daniel said.
“Yes.”
“When?”
Carol opened a locked drawer.
She removed a thin file.
“Your mother came here eight months ago and asked me what would happen if an adult child appeared whom she had never disclosed in her existing estate documents.”
Laura stopped breathing.
Daniel asked, “What did you tell her?”
“That she could amend them.”
“Did she?”
“She began the process.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means she gave instructions. We drafted documents. She delayed signing.”
Nathan’s argument suddenly seemed possible.
Perhaps Evelyn had never completed anything.
Then Carol added:
“Until the week before her stroke.”
She opened the file.
Inside was a photocopy marked CERTIFIED DUPLICATE.
Daniel read the heading.
FIRST CODICIL TO THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF EVELYN CLAIRE MERCER.
Article Two had been altered.
My estate shall be divided in equal shares among my children, Nathan Richard Mercer, Daniel Thomas Mercer, and Laura Bennett Mercer, my biological daughter placed for adoption prior to my marriage.
Laura sat down.
Daniel kept reading.
Evelyn had named Daniel and Nathan joint personal representatives.
There was no mention of Richard being Laura’s father.
But another clause caught his attention.
My personal papers concerning Laura's birth and the Mercer Family Trust are to be preserved until my children have reviewed them together.
Daniel looked at Carol.
“Where is the original?”
“That is the problem.”
“Where?”
“I placed the executed original, supporting documents, and a memorandum in a blue legal envelope.”
Laura closed her eyes.
Daniel felt anger climb his spine.
“Storage?”
“No.”
Carol shook her head.
“I gave it to your mother.”
“Why?”
“She insisted. She said there were older documents she intended to add herself.”
“When did you last see it?”
“The day after your mother died.”
Daniel froze.
Carol continued.
“Nathan came here.”
“For what?”
“He said you were incapable of handling estate matters yet. He asked whether Evelyn had left anything outside her existing will.”
“And you told him?”
“I told him there was a codicil.”
Daniel stood.
“You gave him the packet?”
“No. I told him Evelyn had taken it.”
Carol looked increasingly disturbed.
“But after he left, I received a call from the hospital records office.”
“Why?”
“Nathan had collected a sealed personal-effects envelope your mother left there.”
Daniel remembered the footage.
Banker’s box.
Blue envelope.
Nathan had not discovered Evelyn’s documents by chance.
He had been looking for them.
Carol tapped one line in the codicil.
“The personal estate isn't your biggest problem.”
Daniel followed her finger.
Mercer Family Trust.
Carol said quietly, “Your mother told me Laura's existence might affect something your father signed more than forty years ago.”
“What?”
“She never told me.”
“Why not?”
Carol looked at the security photograph again.
“She said, ‘If Nathan learns what Richard signed before I can explain it, he will fight like his life depends on it.’”
Daniel's phone vibrated.
A message from Nathan.
I know you're with Carol.
Do not drag Dad into this.
Daniel turned the phone toward Laura.
Nathan had denied knowing Laura.
Denied knowing about the envelope.
Denied knowing about the storage sale.
Now he knew exactly what subject Daniel was investigating.
Laura stared at the message.
Daniel finally understood one thing.
May you like
The furniture had never been the point.
Someone had emptied Unit 214 because of what had been hidden among it.
