Chapter 5 - THE DEAD EMAIL
Mason Bell’s mother had died eleven months earlier.
The email account remained active because the family had never closed it.
Mason’s father, Greg, still had access.
So did Mason.
The school contacted the family.
Greg Bell denied knowing anything about fundraiser passwords.
Mason admitted he had used his mother’s old email for gaming accounts because it was “easy.”
But he denied resetting Ryan’s fundraiser access.
The school’s IT contractor traced the reset request to the public library.
Again.
Same branch Ryan had been using during suspension.
Claire felt the case folding in on itself.
Was Ryan framing Mason?
Was Mason framing Ryan?
Then library security resolved one piece.
On the night of the password reset, Ryan was not there.
Mason was.
Video showed him at a computer station.
Ryan stared when the school played the footage.
“You did it.”
Mason looked down.
Then said:
“I reset the password.”
“Why?”
“To get the fundraiser link back.”
“Why?”
“Because Tyler told me to.”
Everyone turned toward Tyler.
Tyler immediately denied it.
Mason shook his head.
“You said we had to fix it before the school saw.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean?”
Tyler finally admitted the original digital wallet had been his idea.
Not theft.
At first.
The payment processor finally traced the destination.
An account opened using:
a prepaid card,
a fake mailing address,
and the name:
R. CARTER.
Claire’s stomach tightened.
Ryan said:
“That’s not me.”
The account registration date was two weeks before the fundraiser.
Then the school investigator asked Claire whether anyone else in the Carter household knew Ryan’s full date of birth.
Claire almost laughed.
“Everyone.”
Then Emma spoke from beside her.
“I know his password.”
Ryan turned.
“What?”
Emma shrugged nervously.
“You use my birthday at the end.”
Ryan stared.
Claire felt another chill.
“How do you know?”
“I saw you type it.”
Then Emma added:
“Someone else knows too.”
“Who?”
She looked at Ryan.
“Dad.”
Claire froze.
Daniel Carter.
Her ex-husband.
The same man whose identity Ryan had impersonated on the school phone call.
Daniel lived in Arizona.
Or so Claire believed.
Then Mark quietly said:
“He was in town last month.”
Claire turned.
“What?”
Mark looked uncomfortable.
“He didn’t tell you?”
May you like
No.
Daniel had been in Ohio during the week the fundraiser money disappeared.
