Chapter 5 - The Woman in the Photograph
The name Daniel Blackwood appeared nowhere in Richard's official records.
No birth certificate. No school transcripts. No passport. Nothing.
Yet the photograph was real.
Adrian spent the night searching old corporate archives while Evelyn worked through public records and newspaper databases. By dawn, they had found a single reference to a boy named Daniel Ellis, admitted to a private boarding school in Massachusetts in 1998.
The school had burned down eleven years later.
Its records were supposedly destroyed.
But one former teacher was still alive.
Her name was Helen Foster, and she lived in a retirement community outside Boston.
When Evelyn called, Helen recognized the name immediately.
"Daniel was a quiet boy," she said. "Brilliant. Very observant. He hated being photographed."
"Do you know where he went?"
"After his mother died, a man came to collect him. He said he was a relative."
"Was the man Martin Shaw?"
Helen hesitated.
"Yes."
Adrian leaned toward the phone.
"What happened to Daniel?"
"He was transferred to another school under a different name. I later heard he had become a security consultant."
Evelyn felt a chill.
"Could that be Jonathan Blackwood?"
"I don't know. But there was something unusual about him. He had a scar above his left eyebrow, and he always carried a brass key on a chain."
Evelyn looked at the key Daniel Cross had given her.
The same shape.
The same worn edges.
Helen continued.
"Before he left, Daniel told me that one day he would return to claim what belonged to him."
The call ended.
Adrian sat motionless.
"If Daniel is Jonathan, why would he work for Martin Shaw?"
"Maybe he doesn't know who he really is," Evelyn suggested.
"Or maybe he knows everything."
They arranged to meet Helen in person.
At the retirement community, the elderly teacher brought out a small box of letters. Most were ordinary notes from former students, but one contained a photograph of a young man standing beside a woman in a nurse's uniform.
Claire Bennett.
On the back was an address in Queens.
They drove there that afternoon.
The building was old, its entrance covered in peeling paint. A neighbor said Claire had moved away weeks earlier, leaving no forwarding address.
But she had left something behind.
The landlord found a sealed envelope inside the apartment's kitchen cabinet.
It contained a handwritten message.
If you are reading this, Jonathan has remembered who he is. Do not let Richard's family convince him that revenge is the same as justice.
Beneath the note was a flash drive.
Adrian inserted it into his laptop.
A video appeared.
Claire sat in a small room, her face pale and exhausted.
"If Jonathan has contacted you, please listen carefully," she said. "He believes his father stole his identity and used him to conceal money. He's right about the identity. He's wrong about the money."
She looked away from the camera.
"Richard created the trust to protect Jonathan. Martin Shaw took control of it and used it to finance the shell companies. When Thomas Carter discovered the fraud, Martin blamed Richard and convinced him that Thomas was threatening the family."
The video continued.
"Richard ordered the investigation stopped. Martin arranged the crash. But Richard didn't know the full truth until much later."
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
"Then why didn't Richard confess?"
The recording answered before she could finish the question.
"Because Martin threatened Jonathan. Richard believed that exposing the truth would put his son in danger."
Claire leaned closer to the camera.
"There's another thing you must understand. Jonathan was told that Adrian's mother had died because of something his father did. He grew up believing the Blackwood family destroyed everyone who loved them."
She paused.
"If Jonathan comes back, he may not come peacefully."
The video ended.
For a long moment, neither Evelyn nor Adrian spoke.
Then Adrian whispered, "My father spent his life protecting his reputation, even when it meant sacrificing innocent people."
"And Jonathan spent his life believing he had been abandoned."
Adrian nodded.
"We need to find him before Martin does."
They traced the flash drive's metadata to a public computer at a library in Queens. Security footage showed a man with a scar above his eyebrow leaving the building two days earlier.
Rachel identified him as Daniel Ellis.
The missing heir.
They followed a lead to a private security firm on Long Island. The company had dissolved six months earlier, but a former employee remembered Daniel.
"He was the best investigator we had," the man said. "He could find anyone. Then one day he discovered something about his family and vanished."
"Where did he go?" Evelyn asked.
The employee handed her a business card.
A small private clinic in Vermont.
They reached the clinic after dark.
The receptionist confirmed that a patient named Daniel Ellis had been admitted under a different name.
Before they could request to see him, a nurse hurried into the lobby.
"Are you Adrian Blackwood?"
"Yes."
The nurse looked frightened.
"Your brother is waiting for you."
Adrian froze.
"My brother?"
She nodded toward the hallway.
At the end stood a man in a dark coat.
He had Adrian's eyes.
His father's face.
And a scar above his left eyebrow.
"Hello, little brother," Jonathan said.
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
"I've been waiting a long time to meet you."
Adrian took one step forward.
"Jonathan."
Jonathan smiled without warmth.
"That's not the name they gave me."
He looked at Evelyn.
"And you must be Thomas Carter's daughter."
Evelyn stiffened.
Jonathan reached into his coat and produced a photograph of her father.
"I know who killed him."
He paused.
"But before I tell you, I want something in return."
"What?" Evelyn asked.
May you like
Jonathan's smile disappeared.
"I want the Blackwood empire."
