I said it had not.
He confirmed that the forwarding process was being handled by the postal service.
Priya asked why I had started researching Evelyn Mercer.
I told her the simple truth.
I wanted to understand why a stranger felt entitled to threaten my family over a letter.
She studied my timeline and then asked whether the investigation had affected Sophie’s routine.
I admitted that my daughter had become nervous about walking past Marjorie’s property.
We discussed practical steps, including changing the route Sophie took with her friends and preserving any new incidents without confrontation.
I felt foolish for needing advice about the sidewalk on which I had taught Sophie to ride a bicycle.
Priya seemed to understand.
“You don’t need to prove you can handle this alone,” she said.
After the meeting, I called my sister, Rebecca, who lived in Lancaster.
She had wanted me to move closer to her after my husband died, and I could hear the unspoken argument forming in her voice.
I told her I needed someone to listen, not someone to remind me of an old choice.
She apologized immediately.
We talked for an hour about Sophie, about the house, and about the strange burden of becoming part of someone else’s unfinished conflict.
Rebecca offered to have Sophie stay with her for a weekend.
I accepted, grateful for a practical kindness that did not require solving the whole problem.
Chapter 11: The Letter Reaches Daniel
Daniel Mercer called me on Saturday morning.
His voice reminded me of a man who had grown accustomed to receiving bad news in carefully folded envelopes.
He said the postal service had forwarded Miriam’s letter and that he had spoken with the museum.
He thanked me for not opening mail that belonged to his mother.
I told him about Marjorie’s demands and the police reports.
He asked whether she still lived next door.
When I confirmed it, he laughed once without amusement.
“My mother said that woman could make a sunny day feel like an interrogation.”
Daniel lived in Vermont, where he taught woodworking at a vocational school.
He had not returned to Briar Glen since his mother’s funeral.
He said his family had never fully recovered from the campaign against Evelyn.
Neighbors stopped inviting her to meetings, and people crossed the street to avoid speaking with her.
His father believed moving would end the hostility.
Instead, the accusations followed them through letters and telephone calls.
Daniel remembered seeing his mother sort documents at the kitchen table until late at night.
