Chapter 9 - THE RESCUE-CENTER CALL
Harbor Point emergency center had called Diane.
The number appeared in Diane’s phone records.
Day after the crash.
2:43 p.m.
Duration:
four minutes, twelve seconds.
Diane initially said she did not remember the conversation.
The emergency center did.
A volunteer named Joseph Hale documented:
Spoke with mother of Claire Carter. Advised adult female with matching name and biographical information presented alive, transferred inland for medical evaluation. Mother stated this must be mistaken identity because daughter confirmed aboard aircraft.
Diane had been told.
Not conclusively.
But directly.
Joseph gave her a callback number.
Diane never called.
Instead, forty minutes later, she emailed the insurer:
Authorities continue to confirm Claire was aboard.
That statement was difficult to defend.
The emergency-center volunteer, Joseph Hale, had no reason to remember Diane personally.
He remembered the call because of her response.
Most families of presumed crash victims reacted to survivor reports with desperate hope.
Diane said:
“That can’t be my daughter.”
Joseph replied:
“She gave your name, her birth date, employer, and home city.”
Diane asked:
“Did you see identification?”
“No.”
“Then it’s not confirmed.”
That was rational.
Then Joseph said:
“We’d like you to speak with her once she’s transferred.”
Diane replied:
“Call me when you have proof.”
Joseph wrote the phrase down.
At trial preparation, Lauren used it to show Diane demanded verification rather than knowingly rejecting Claire.
Grace used the same phrase differently.
A mother who wanted confirmation would normally leave the door open.
Diane did not call back.
The same sentence supported two stories.
That was why the case needed more than outrage.
Lauren tried.
The Coast Guard manifest still listed Claire.
No photograph had confirmed the survivor.
Diane may have believed the center had the wrong woman.
But why not check?
Diane finally answered:
“Because I couldn’t survive finding out twice.”
Claire stared.
“What does that mean?”
“I had already accepted you were dead.”
“No.”
May you like
Claire shook her head.
“You had already accepted the money existed.”
