The Dunn home sat at the end of a narrow lane outside Canterbury. It was smaller than Emma expected. Faded curtains. A rusted gate. But everything was neat—painfully neat, like time had frozen decades ago.
Helen Dunn opened the door. In her late fifties, she looked like she hadn't aged much since 1986—except for the grief in her eyes.
"You're Grace's daughter?" she asked quietly.
Emma nodded. "I didn't know who she really was. Until now."
Helen let her in.
⸻
Inside the Dunn Home
Emma sat at a worn kitchen table while Helen poured tea, hands trembling slightly.
"She used to be called Anna," Helen said. "She and Marianne were inseparable at St. Eliza's. First roommates. Then best friends. Then… something more."
Emma raised an eyebrow. "You mean romantically?"
Helen nodded. "They were careful. It wasn't safe to be open back then. But Marianne loved her. Wrote poems. Snuck her out at night. She'd call her Gracie. Said she made her feel alive."
Emma clutched the edges of her cup.
"So what happened?"
Helen reached for a drawer and pulled out an old journal—leather-bound, weathered.
"She kept this. Marianne. Right up until the day she disappeared."
⸻
The Journal of Marianne Dunn
Emma turned the pages carefully. Most entries were dreamy, full of love and longing.
"Gracie kissed me behind the greenhouses. She said I make her forget everything else. I believe her."
"She talks about getting away from here. Says her family is nothing but disappointment. Says I'm her escape."
Then the tone changed.
"Gracie's been distant. Cold. Talks about a boy from her hometown—says he could help her disappear, give her a new name. I asked why. She said she's tired of being small."
"I saw her making copies of my ID. She laughed it off. But I saw her."
Emma looked up. "She stole Marianne's identity?"
Helen nodded. "That's the theory. After Marianne vanished, no one could prove anything. But Anna Grace Holloway stopped existing shortly after."
Emma's chest tightened. "She took her name. Her papers. Everything."
"And left us nothing," Helen whispered. "No body. No answers."
⸻
What Really Happened
Helen slid an old photo across the table—Marianne standing next to Anna, both in uniform. "That was taken a month before she vanished."
Emma traced her fingers over the image.
"I need to find out if she's alive," Emma said. "Or if Grace—my mother—did something worse."
Helen stared into her tea. "I don't think Marianne died."
Emma blinked. "You don't?"
"I think she ran. After whatever Grace did. She was smart. Scared. But clever. I think she started over."
Emma sat in stunned silence.
"What if… she's still out there?"
⸻
Back in Ravenshade – That Night
Emma called Caroline the moment she got home.
"We have a possible living witness," she said. "If Marianne Dunn is alive, she can connect Grace to fraud, identity theft, and maybe worse."
Caroline sounded both cautious and excited. "If she's alive, we'll find her. Do you have anything to start with?"
"Just a hint in Marianne's journal. She mentioned a place she always dreamed of—Lindale-by-the-Sea."
Caroline paused. "That's a real place. Devon coast. Small town. We can start there."
Emma stared at the map on her laptop, heart racing.
If Marianne survived Grace…
She could be the one to finally help Emma destroy her.
⸻
Final Scene – Grace Takes Action
Grace sat in her car outside Caroline Dorsey's office, watching the lights go out.
She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel.
The photo of Marianne Dunn was spread across the passenger seat. A matchbook from Lindale Inn sat beside it.
She whispered:
"You always were the one loose thread, Marianne."
"Time to cut you out again."
Grace started the engine.
And headed for Devon.