Chapter 28 - The Five Women
The photograph had been taken in the summer of 1989.
All five women stood beneath the stone archway at Briarwood’s entrance. They wore work clothes rather than dresses, and each held a folder against her chest.
On the back, Margaret Bell had written their names:
Margaret Bell.
Helen Carter.
Rose Dalton.
Evelyn Shaw.
Lydia Harrow.
Nora recognized the last surname immediately.
“Is she related to Commissioner Harrow?” she asked.
Camille searched public records on her phone.
“His mother.”
The red lines had been drawn through Margaret, Helen, Rose and Evelyn.
Only Lydia’s face remained untouched.
The first deed in the box showed that Briarwood and the surrounding forty acres had once belonged to a housing cooperative created by the five women.
The second deed transferred the entire property to Lydia Harrow.
The third transferred it from Lydia to the Whitmore Development Company.
All three documents were dated within a period of fourteen months.
“There should have been five signatures on any sale,” Camille said. “This cooperative agreement required unanimous approval.”
The second deed carried five signatures.
The problem was that four of the women had supposedly signed it on the same date they were recorded as being in different states.
Someone had forged them.
Nora studied the map.
The modern boundary line curved around Briarwood House, placing it inside Whitmore land.
But an older line ran straight through the garden, continuing beneath the road and toward the abandoned textile factory beyond the hill.
A handwritten note identified the area as Bell Cooperative Land.
“That factory belongs to Harrow Holdings,” Camille said.
“Commissioner Harrow’s company?”
“His family’s company. Officially, he transferred control to his wife when he entered public office.”
The demolition order had not been issued because Briarwood was dangerous.
It had been issued because the original deed could threaten ownership of land worth millions.
Camille photographed every page and placed the documents in a sealed evidence bag.
“We need an independent land survey.”
Nora looked again at the four crossed-out faces.
“First, we need to know what happened to these women.”
Camille’s expression tightened.
Margaret Bell had died in 1992.
Helen Carter had disappeared in 1991.
Rose Dalton had died after a fall.
Evelyn Shaw had spent the final twenty years of her life in a care facility after being declared mentally incompetent.
Four women had lost their land, their voices or their lives.
The only woman who had prospered was Lydia Harrow.
Then Elsie pointed at the photograph.
“Mom, there’s somebody in the window.”
Behind the five women, barely visible through the glass, stood a young boy watching them.
Nora enlarged the photograph with her phone.
May you like
Even through the faded image, she recognized his face.
It was her late father-in-law, Charles Whitmore.
