Emma stared at the charred photograph.
The image was small—wallet-sized. Burned around the edges. The only visible parts: a teenage girl in a school uniform, one hand raised mid-wave, a faded crest stitched on the blazer's pocket.
She turned it over. Nothing written.
But the uniform looked familiar.
And the crest? Half visible.
Emma opened her laptop, typed in:
"UK girls' schools – crest with lion and rose."
She scrolled through dozens of school crests until one made her breath hitch.
St. Eliza's Boarding School for Girls – Hampshire.
A lion and a rose, identical to the burned corner.
⸻
St. Eliza's Records Office – Hampshire
The receptionist was kind but wary.
"I'm sorry, we can't release student records to the public—especially not ones from the 1980s."
Emma handed over her solicitor's ID, freshly printed with Caroline's firm credentials.
The woman raised an eyebrow, then sighed. "You're persistent. Let me check the archives."
After twenty minutes, she returned holding a thin file.
"Here's what we have. Student was enrolled under the name Anna Grace Holloway, graduated 1987."
Emma opened the file.
There she was.
Same face as Grace Clarke. Same eyes. Same smirk.
But not the same name.
Anna Grace Holloway.
Emma's stomach twisted.
Her mother had changed identities.
And Grace Clarke was a fabrication.
⸻
The Burned Girl's Identity
Emma kept reading.
The burned girl in the photo? Her name was Marianne Dunn, listed as Anna's roommate.
There was no graduation date beside Marianne's name.
She had vanished in 1986, with a short notation beside it:
"Withdrawn. No forwarding address. No contact from family."
Emma whispered aloud:
"She disappeared…"
She flipped the photo over again, now knowing: Marianne was the girl Daniel found in Grace's purse.
But why would Grace carry a burned picture of her?
Unless—
Unless she wanted to remember what she'd done.
Or maybe what she'd become.
⸻
A Visit to the Dunn Family
The Dunns still lived in Kent, according to the phone book. Emma called the number. A woman answered.
"Yes," she said slowly. "Marianne was my sister."
"I think your family was connected to someone I'm investigating," Emma said. "Her name was Anna Holloway."
Silence.
Then: "Come tomorrow. I'll explain everything."
⸻
Back in Ravenshade – That Night
Emma sat at her dining table, files spread out around her like a forensic mosaic.
She drew a line from Anna Grace Holloway → Grace Clarke → Michael Morgan → Richard Clarke → and now, Emma.
A second line from Daniel Mercer → quarry death → burned photo → Marianne Dunn.
Patterns emerged:
• Change name.
• Charm wealthy men.
• Cut ties when threatened.
• Always a new identity.
• Always a victim narrative.
Grace Clarke was a woman made from smoke.
Emma circled Marianne's name and whispered,
"What did she know that made you erase her too?"
⸻
Final Scene – Grace Receives a Letter
In her lavish townhouse, Grace sat at her vanity, hair perfectly coiled. The mail had just arrived.
A single envelope. No return address.
She opened it slowly.
Inside was a photocopy of the St. Eliza's yearbook page—a photo of Anna Grace Holloway and Marianne Dunn, laughing, arms linked.
And underneath, in red ink:
"Marianne never graduated.
I know why."
Grace's face twisted.
She crushed the paper in her hand.
The past she'd buried was rising again.
And this time, it had a name.
Emma.
Would you like to continue with Chapter 19, where Emma meets Marianne Dunn's surviving sister and learns the shocking truth of how Grace's manipulations may have started even earlier than anyone thought?