Part 2: The Name in the Dark
Part 2: The Name in the Dark
The room fell into a suffocating, icy silence.
Robert and his brother Frank immediately ushered a shaking Katherine out of the room, taking her down the hall to the safety of the guest suite.
Grace remained behind, staring at her son, who had slowly stopped crying. He was now adjusting his white collar, his demeanor shifting from panicked to chillingly calm.
"Beatrice," Grace repeated, her voice trembling. "Caleb... Beatrice died in a hit-and-run in Richmond three years ago. She was your college girlfriend. What does Katherine have to do with a tragedy that happened before you two even met?"
Caleb let out a low, humorless laugh. He stood up, towering over his mother.
"They didn't meet after the tragedy, Mom," Caleb said, walking over to his nightstand. He opened the drawer and pulled out a worn, black leather diary. "They met before. In fact, they were roommates."
Grace frowned, her mind spinning. "Katherine told us she went to school in Boston."
"She lied," Caleb said flatly, tossing the diary onto the bed. "She changed her name, her hair, her entire identity after the police ruled Beatrice's death an unsolved accident. But Beatrice kept a journal. And three months ago, a former classmate of theirs mailed this to my office."
He opened a marked page. The handwriting belonged to Beatrice—frantic, looped letters filled with anxiety.
Katherine knows about the scholarship money. She found the cash in my desk. She said I didn't deserve to go to London. She looked at me today with so much hatred it made me sick. If anything happens to me, don't let her near my things.
Grace stared at the faded ink. "This... this doesn't prove she killed anyone, Caleb. It proves they had a fight! You married a woman, spent two years with her, just to terrify her on your wedding night over a journal entry?"
"Oh, it wasn't just the journal, Mom," Caleb whispered, leaning in close. "I spent the last ninety days tracking down the vehicle registered to Katherine's old name in Richmond. The car was crushed for scrap metal three days after Beatrice was found on the side of Route 6."
May you like
He smiled, a dark, hollow expression.
"Tonight, right before you broke the door down, I gave Katherine her wedding gift. It was the original silver bracelet Beatrice was wearing the night she died. The one the police never found. I told Katherine I dug it out of the trunk of her old car."
