Suddenly Every Theory Got Worse
Claire called Mr. Patterson.
“Are you sure that picture was Evelyn?”
“Absolutely.”
“Could she have had a sister?”
“Not that I remember.”
“A daughter?”
“One son.”
Claire asked whether Evelyn’s son still lived nearby.
Mr. Patterson became quiet.
“I haven’t seen Nathan in years.”
That name mattered.
Because when Claire checked local property records online, she discovered something strange.
The bank didn’t actually own Number 417.
The property remained under the Price Family Trust.
And one of the listed contacts was Nathan Price.
Nathan Had Been Coming Back for Years
Police eventually located Nathan.
He was forty-two.
He lived approximately ninety minutes away.
And yes, he still had access to the house.
According to Nathan, he visited occasionally to check pipes, collect mail and maintain the property.
Claire immediately asked police:
“Was he there at night?”
Nathan said no.
He insisted he had never visited after midnight.
More importantly, Nathan denied leaving the note.
Then police showed him Claire’s video of the woman.
Nathan watched it twice.
He asked to watch it again.
Then he sat down.
Claire later learned that Nathan’s first response was:
“That looks like my mother.”
But Nathan Had an Explanation
Several days later, Nathan agreed to speak with Claire.
He looked exhausted.
“My mother never wanted to sell that house.”
“Then why did she leave?”
Nathan hesitated.
“She was having problems.”
“What kind?”
“After my dad died, she became scared of living alone.”
According to Nathan, Evelyn sometimes believed people were watching the house.
She claimed someone walked through the backyard at night.
She once called Nathan at 3 a.m. because she believed somebody had opened the basement door.
Nathan never found evidence anyone had been there.
Eventually, Evelyn moved closer to relatives in Kentucky.
The family kept the Ohio house because she repeatedly insisted she wanted to return someday.
She never did.
After Evelyn died, Nathan couldn’t bring himself to sell it.
Claire asked:
“Why does the porch light come on at 2:17?”
Nathan looked confused.
“It doesn’t.”
“Yes, it does.”
“There’s no timer.”
