Leah had once believed those actions meant the family was about to lose the house.
She now wondered whether Iris had been responding to threats.
I urged her to provide the information to Calder rather than draw her own legal conclusions.
Leah agreed, although she feared her mother would accuse her of betrayal.
Before leaving, she admitted that she sometimes wished my security cameras had never been installed.
Without the recording, she could have continued believing her mother’s habits were merely peculiar.
Then she added that she was glad the truth had finally interrupted their lives.
Both feelings belonged to the same person, and I understood them.
ADDITIONAL CHAPTER SIX: THE SCHOOL RECORD
A retired teacher named Pauline Hayes contacted Frances after reading the first article about Margaret’s house.
Pauline had taught evening classes at the community college during the years when Mara disappeared.
She remembered a student who used the name M. Voss and requested access to old municipal directories for an independent project.
Pauline met us in a library meeting room and brought a syllabus rather than a dramatic recollection.
The course covered local economic history, including how abandoned industrial properties were reused.
Mara had submitted a paper arguing that ordinary citizens deserved access to records about land near schools and playgrounds.
Pauline preserved a copy because the student’s citations were unusually thorough.
Most of the sources were publicly available, but several references pointed to private correspondence from former employees.
The paper did not accuse anyone of a crime.
It did reveal that Mara had been researching Henley before her disappearance attracted attention.
Pauline remembered Mara asking whether a person could publish information without revealing the identity of the people who supplied it.
She had advised Mara to consult a lawyer or journalist rather than promise anonymity she could not protect.
A few days later, Mara stopped attending class.
Pauline sent a letter asking whether she intended to complete the course.
The letter came back marked undeliverable.
Pauline had assumed Mara moved to another town.
Only years later had she recognized the name in a newspaper feature about a missing woman.
She regretted not contacting investigators, although she admitted she had little useful information at the time.
Frances asked for permission to show the syllabus and paper to Calder.
Pauline agreed and wrote a short statement explaining how the papers came into her possession.
After she left, I read a paragraph about an old recreation field located near the Henley boundary.
