Chapter 10 - THE BLOOD IN CLAIRE’S CAR
Police reopened Claire’s disappearance.
Modern DNA testing showed the blood in her abandoned car belonged to Thomas Walker, not Claire. Thomas had cut his hand pulling her from the wreck before emergency crews arrived.
He transported her to a rural clinic owned by a client, fearing Daniel after hearing Diane’s account of the marital argument. Instead of notifying police, he let Diane decide what happened next.
The crash itself appeared accidental. Tire damage resulted from road debris, and no evidence supported sabotage.
Daniel had not caused it. Diane had not caused it. Their later choices created the crime.
Thomas’s hidden notes said Claire initially believed Daniel struck her because Diane repeated that story during memory therapy. As fragments returned, Claire rejected it. Diane increased isolation and changed physicians.
Hannah said she learned Carol might be Claire only eighteen months ago.
Phone records contradicted her. Five years earlier, she searched facial reconstruction after trauma, missing-person statutes, and whether marriage to a presumed widower remained valid if the first spouse returned.
Daniel’s marriage to Hannah could be void because Claire was alive.
Hannah claimed curiosity after hearing Diane’s suspicions.
“You knew before you married me?”
“I suspected. Mom swore testing showed Carol was unrelated.”
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No such test existed.
Daniel removed his wedding ring and placed it on the table. He did not declare Hannah evil or Claire restored. He said only, “Our marriage was built on a fact you knew might be false.”
