Chapter 4 - Echoes in the Pine Woods
By nightfall, news of the empty casket had leaked to the press. Headlines across the state read: The Ghost of Arthur Vance: heiress interrupts own father's funeral to reveal empty casket. The story was no longer just a family drama; it was a public scandal that threatened to tear down the entire political network of the county.
Sheriff Lawson sat across from Clara in the precinct's interrogation room. The room was cold, smelled of stale coffee, and was lit by a single flickering fluorescent tube. He placed a thick folder on the table between them.
"Eight years ago, Clara, I was the lead detective on your case," Lawson said quietly, his voice heavy with a guilt he had carried for nearly a decade. "The evidence was stacked against you. Gas cans in your closet, accelerant on your shoes... and your own mother’s testimony claiming you had threatened to burn the house down after an argument."
"Step-mother," Clara corrected gently. "Eleanor was never my mother. My mother died giving birth to me. Arthur was all I had."
"Why didn't you fight harder back then?" Lawson asked.
May you like
Clara looked down at her handcuffed wrists. "Because I was sixteen, Sheriff. I was terrified, I was grieving, and when the woman who raised you tells you that you killed the only person who loved you, you start to believe your own nightmare. But two months ago, someone sent me this."
She motioned toward the folder. Lawson opened it to reveal a photocopy of a medical prescription filled four weeks prior at a small pharmacy in the neighboring town of Oakhaven. The name on the prescription was David Miller, but the signature at the bottom—the distinctive, stylized flourish—belonged undeniably to Arthur Vance.
