Chapter 7 - CATHERINE'S REAL PLAN
DNA confirmed the remains were Julian Hayes.
Catherine did not celebrate.
She stood at the edge of the excavation in a black coat, staring down at the place where her brother had been hidden for thirty-four years.
For the first time, Laura saw grief instead of cruelty.
Then Catherine turned it into strategy.
Within forty-eight hours, she filed a civil action against the Miller estate, the dissolved development company, and Laura as property holder.
Wrongful concealment.
Fraudulent land transfer.
Interference with recovery of remains.
Intentional destruction of access.
Some claims were weak.
Some were not.
The damages request was enormous.
She also filed to freeze Laura’s home sale rights.
Richard looked at the complaint.
“She’s using Julian to take the property.”
Laura frowned.
“Why?”
“Because if she proves fraud in the original development, she may be able to unwind portions of the transfer chain.”
“You mean she can take my house?”
“Not easily.”
“But possible.”
“Parts of the land, maybe.”
Laura stared.
Catherine had never wanted only peace.
She wanted restoration.
The old Hayes parcel.
Her family’s ground.
Her brother’s grave.
And perhaps revenge against every Miller name attached to it.
Laura asked:
“Did she fill the pool because she knew the remains were there?”
Richard shook his head.
“No proof.”
Then a construction employee came forward.
He said Catherine instructed the truck driver:
“Fill deep. I want the whole cavity gone.”
Laura’s pulse quickened.
If Catherine suspected remains, pouring concrete could have destroyed evidence.
Why would she do that if she wanted Julian found?
Unless she did not want what else might be found.
Police expanded excavation.
Under the old pump shed they discovered a rusted metal box.
Inside:
ledger pages.
Photographs.
A revolver wrapped in oilcloth.
No bullets.
No immediate connection.
One photograph showed Julian arguing with an older man.
Laura recognized Daniel’s father, Frank Miller.
Another showed Catherine herself.
Young.
Pregnant.
Standing beside Julian.
Laura stared.
Catherine saw the photograph later and demanded it be sealed.
That reaction interested Richard.
“Pregnant with Mason?”
Laura asked.
“Timing fits.”
“Why would Julian matter?”
Richard investigated.
Mason Hayes’s birth certificate listed no father.
Catherine had never married until years later.
Then an old letter surfaced from Julian’s belongings:
CAT,
FRANK KNOWS ABOUT THE BABY. HE SAYS IF YOU KEEP IT, HE'LL DESTROY US BOTH.
Laura went cold.
Frank Miller knew Catherine was pregnant.
Why would Daniel’s father care?
Another line:
YOU CAN'T LET MASON GROW UP BELIEVING FRANK IS HIS FATHER.
Laura stared.
Richard read it twice.
Then whispered:
“Oh, hell.”
Catherine’s son Mason may have been Frank Miller’s child.
May you like
Which would make Mason Daniel’s half-brother.
And Catherine had spent twenty years believing Daniel testified against his own brother.
