PART 5 — THE MAN WHO CAUSED HANNAH’S DEATH

Elias read the letter again.

Then a third time.

The kitchen seemed to grow smaller around him.

The man who fathered my daughter is the same man who caused Hannah Boon’s death.

He lowered the paper.

“Deputy Sloan.”

Mave said nothing.

She didn’t need to.

The name was already hanging between them.

The little girl stood beside the fireplace, clutching her leather bag. Her eyes moved from Elias to Mave, as though she feared they might send her away.

Mave gently pulled out a chair.

“Anna, when did you last see your mother?”

“Yesterday morning.”

“Did she tell you to come here?”

The child nodded.

“She said Mr. Boon knew Aunt Hannah. She said he was the only person who might believe me.”

Elias crouched in front of her.

“Your mother is Ruth Caroway?”

Anna nodded again.

“Then why didn’t she come with you?”

The girl’s eyes filled.

“Because Mr. Sloan came to our house. Mother told me to hide in the pantry. When I came out, she was gone.”

Mave exchanged a worried glance with Elias.

“Did you see where she went?”

Anna shook her head.

“But I heard him say something.”

“What?”

The girl swallowed.

“He said he had waited six years for everyone to forget Hannah. He wasn’t going to let another woman ruin everything.”

Elias closed his eyes.

Six years.

Six years of believing his wife had died because fate had been cruel.

Six years of carrying a grief that had never been properly explained.

And now a little girl was telling him that someone had deliberately prevented Hannah from receiving help.

He stood.

“Mave, take Anna upstairs. She shouldn’t be near the windows.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Find out where Ruth is.”

Mave caught his hand.

“Not alone. And not by walking straight into Sloan’s office.”

Elias looked at her.

For a moment, his expression softened.

“You always know how to stop me from making a foolish decision.”

“It’s becoming part of my job.”

Despite everything, he almost smiled.

Then Mave looked at the letter again.

“There’s something we haven’t considered.”

“What?”

“Ruth could have written this letter long before Anna arrived. We need to know why she waited until now.”

She examined the envelope.

There was a date written inside the fold.

It was six years old.

The letter had been written shortly after Hannah’s death.

But it had never been delivered.

And someone had recently added a second sentence in different handwriting:

If you receive this, do not trust the deputy.

Mave turned the envelope over.

A small name had been written beneath the seal.

Thomas Reed.

Thomas was nowhere to be found.

His room above the stable was empty. His horse was gone, and his belongings had been removed.

But Mave noticed something beneath his mattress.

A small wooden box.

Inside were several bank receipts, two letters, and a folded sheet of paper bearing the Caroway family seal.

The receipts showed regular payments from Silas Caroway.

Every month.

For two years.

The letters were more troubling.

One contained instructions to report any unusual activity around the eastern well.

Another mentioned Mave by name.

The new manager has begun asking questions. Keep her away from the old records. If she finds the second ledger, inform Sloan immediately.

Elias read the letter.

“There’s a second ledger?”

Mave nodded slowly.

“Apparently.”

She examined the final sheet.

It was a list of payments made to several people in Dustwell.

One name appeared repeatedly.

Deputy Sloan.

Another appeared at the bottom.

Dr. Nathaniel Price.

Elias frowned.

“Price was the physician who was supposed to reach Hannah that night.”

Mave looked up.

“Wasn’t he?”

“Yes. He told me the road was impossible to cross because of the flood.”

Mave folded the paper.

“Then perhaps we should ask him what really happened.”

The doctor’s house stood at the northern edge of Dustwell.

Dr. Price was an elderly man now, his hair almost entirely white. When Elias and Mave arrived, he seemed unsurprised to see them.

Until Elias mentioned Hannah.

Then the physician’s hands began to tremble.

“I wondered when someone would come asking.”

Elias stepped closer.

“You told me you couldn’t reach my wife.”

Price lowered his eyes.

“I was given a message that the road had collapsed completely. I was told your ranch was inaccessible.”

“By whom?”

The doctor hesitated.

“Deputy Sloan.”

Elias’s jaw тιԍнтened.

“Did you believe him?”

“At first.”

“And afterward?”

Price walked to his desk.

“I discovered that another message had been delivered to my office. It said you had already taken Hannah to the fort.”

“That was a lie.”

“I know that now.”

Mave spoke quietly.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

The doctor looked at her with deep regret.

“Because I was afraid. Sloan told me the county would blame me for abandoning a patient. He said my medical license would be taken away if I spoke.”

Elias turned toward the window.

His shoulders had become rigid.

“My wife died waiting for you.”

Price’s eyes filled.

“I know, Mr. Boon. And I have regretted it every day.”

For a long moment, Elias said nothing.

Then he asked:

“Did you know about Ruth’s daughter?”

The doctor’s expression changed.

“Yes.”

“Who was the father?”

Price closed his eyes.

“Deputy Sloan.”

Mave felt a chill.

“Was Hannah involved?”

“She delivered the child. Ruth had been terrified of her husband discovering the truth. Hannah helped her because she believed a child shouldn’t be punished for the circumstances of her birth.”

“Why did Hannah keep the secret?”

“Because Sloan promised he would leave Ruth alone. But when Hannah discovered that he was falsifying the water records with Silas Caroway, she threatened to expose him.”

Elias looked at him.

“And that was why she died?”

The doctor nodded reluctantly.

“I cannot prove that Sloan intended her to die. But I can tell you this: he deliberately prevented me from reaching her. He knew she was seriously ill, and he knew I was the only physician who could get there in time.”

Elias looked away.

The truth was somehow worse than the uncertainty.

Price opened a drawer and removed a sealed envelope.

“Hannah left this with me. She asked me to give it to you if anything happened to her.”

Elias took it.

His name was written across the front in Hannah’s familiar handwriting.

For several seconds, he couldn’t bring himself to open it.

Then he unfolded the letter.

My dearest Elias,

If you are reading this, I have failed to tell you something important.

I discovered that Ruth’s little girl is Sloan’s daughter. Ruth is frightened, but she loves that child. I promised to protect them both.

I also discovered what Silas and Sloan have done to your father’s water rights. They have been changing records, stealing money, and using the deputy’s position to frighten anyone who asks questions.

I wanted to tell you everything. But I feared they would destroy the ranch before you could protect it.

Please don’t let my silence become another burden you carry.

You did everything you could for me.

I loved you then. I love you still.

Hannah.

Elias lowered the letter.

For six years, he had believed his wife died with an unfinished conversation between them.

Now he finally understood.

She had never blamed him.

He had been blaming himself.

Mave gently placed her hand over his.

“You didn’t fail her, Elias.”

He looked at the letter.

Then, for the first time since Hannah’s funeral, he allowed himself to cry.

That evening, Mave and Elias returned to Boone Creek.

Anna was asleep upstairs.

The judge had been informed of everything, and he agreed to arrange a formal hearing the following morning.

But there was one problem.

Deputy Sloan had disappeared.

And Silas Caroway had begun moving money out of the bank.

Ruth was still missing.

Mave stood beside the kitchen table, studying the documents.

“There’s a pattern,” she said.

Elias approached.

“What have you found?”

She placed the receipts beside the original water agreement.

“Silas paid Sloan to manipulate the survey. He also paid Thomas to watch the ranch. But look at these dates.”

Elias leaned closer.

The payments to Sloan had begun shortly before the original water survey was altered.

The payments to Thomas had begun shortly before Mave arrived.

But the final payment was different.

It had been issued three days earlier.

The amount was large enough to purchase a small property.

And the recipient was not Sloan.

It was Ruth Caroway.

Elias frowned.

“Why would Silas pay his own wife?”

Mave examined the signature.

“He wasn’t paying her.”

She turned the receipt around.

“He was buying her silence.”

A sudden noise came from the porch.

Both turned.

A woman stood outside.

Her dress was torn at the hem. Her hair had fallen loose, and she looked exhausted.

It was Ruth.

Elias opened the door.

Ruth looked past him.

“Is Anna here?”

Mave appeared behind him.

“She’s safe.”

Ruth covered her mouth.

For several moments, she could barely speak.

Then she looked at Elias.

“I know you have every reason to hate me.”

Elias remained silent.

Ruth reached into her coat and produced a thick leather ledger.

“But before you decide what I deserve, you need to read this.”

Mave accepted it.

She opened the cover.

Inside were records of every payment Silas had made to Sloan, every fraudulent transaction involving Boone Creek, and copies of the original water-right documents.

There were also several letters.

One was signed by Hannah.

Another bore Deputy Sloan’s name.

But the final document was a confession written by Silas Caroway himself.

Elias stared at it.

“Where did you get this?”

Ruth’s voice broke.

“From my husband’s private office.”

“Why are you giving it to us?”

“Because I helped him hide the truth for six years. And because my daughter deserves to know that her mother finally chose to do the right thing.”

She looked toward the staircase.

“Can I see Anna?”

Mave nodded.

But before Ruth could take another step, a horse approached the house.

Then another.

Judge Whitcomb had arrived with two county officials.

Behind them, riding alone, was Deputy Sloan.

He dismounted slowly.

His eyes went straight to Ruth.

Then to the leather ledger in Mave’s hands.

His expression changed.

“You shouldn’t have come here, Ruth.”

She stepped beside Mave.

“For six years, I did exactly what you told me.”

Sloan looked toward Elias.

“Give me the ledger.”

Elias didn’t move.

“Your time is over.”

The deputy glanced at the judge.

Then at the papers.

And finally at Mave.

“You don’t understand what you’re holding.”

Mave closed the ledger.

“I understand perfectly.”

She lifted her chin.

“It’s the truth.”

For the first time, Deputy Sloan had no answer.

But when Judge Whitcomb opened Silas Caroway’s confession, he discovered a final paragraph that none of them had expected.

It wasn’t about the stolen water.

It wasn’t about the altered boundaries.

It was about Hannah’s death.

And it named someone who had been standing beside Elias all along.

Part 4 ends with the arrival of Hannah’s daughter. Part 5 reveals the truth behind Hannah’s death, Ruth’s secret, and the conspiracy involving the Caroways.

The biggest mystery is still waiting to be uncovered: Who was the person standing beside Elias who had secretly helped destroy his family?