Page 131 of Everything She Feared

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Seattle, Washington

Ryan’s keyboard andmouse clicked.

He’d heard nothing more on the person from the show offering to provide him documents. He got back to checking the claim that Magda had been killed in a car crash in Canada five years ago.

If it’s true, then that leaves only the daughter. She’d be my last hope to find Carrie. Would she even know where Carrie is? Could it really all fall apart? Have I been deluding myself with false hope all these years?

Glancing at Carrie’s photo, he shoved the prospect of failure out of his head.

The caller, Lynn from Chicago, had been certain that Magda was using the name Sharon Ellen Vernay at the time of her death.

Ryan dove into news databases he subscribed to. Lynn had put the crash along the Trans-Canada Highway, in the northern part of the province of Ontario. Ryan opened a map on his screen showing Ontario. It was huge, larger than California and larger than Texas.

He submittedSharon Ellen Vernaywith the wordsOntarioandcrashto databases for all Canadian news reports. He liked using one callede-NewsHawkQuest. It offered files from all major and regional news sources from 1980 to today.

Within seconds he had a story that was five years old, out of Kenora, Ontario. He consulted the map, following the highway northwest, locating Kenora not far from Manitoba. He went to the story.

KENORA, Ont.—Police have identified a Manitoba woman killed in a single-vehicle crash near Kenora, Ont., last week.

Sharon Ellen Vernay, 46, of Winnipeg, died at the scene, Ontario Provincial Police in Kenora said in a statement.

Vernay’s minivan was traveling westbound when it left the road after it struck a deer near Sugar Bay Marina about 20 kilometers west of Kenora, on Highway 17, part of the Trans-Canada Highway.

Vernay’s passenger, Brenda Nyakachuk, 49, of Winnipeg, was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

The women were returning to Winnipeg after attending a country music festival near Kenora.

Ryan considered the story.

The date was correct for Magda’s age. But he needed more details.

He went flat-out, checking obituaries online and in news databases for Winnipeg newspapers. He found the obit and began reading.

VERNAY, Sharon Ellen (née) Stornerk, passed away tragically in Ontario... Born in Brandon, Manitoba, in 1972. Graduated from Colonial High School...married Leon Ford Vernay, her high school sweetheart in 1998...

Wait.

The dates didn’t make sense. Sharon Vernay couldn’t be Magda. In 1998, Magda was in prison in Montana. She couldn’t have been out and free to live in Manitoba to get married. It didn’t make sense.

Ryan continued searching social media sites, and soon came upon memorial postings on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook by Sharon Vernay’s husband, her relatives and friends, marking what would have been her birthday.

Sharon Vernay’s birthdate matched Magda’s.

Ryan studied all the photos posted of Sharon Vernay’s life, high school, wedding, with her children. Then he studied all the photos he had of Magda, and began shaking his head.

No way. Not even close.

Why would Lynn from Chicago call in toTell-Tale Heartsto make this bogus claim?

Ryan’s first thoughts were to let it go, to move on with the relief that Magda wasn’t dead. But he went back to his question: why call in to make a bogus claim—adetailedbogus claim?

Analyzing the call yielded a few theories. What if Lynn was only half right? What if Lynn had stumbled onto something? Magda had stolen Sharon Ellen Vernay’s ID because her birthdate matched hers?

Ryan reached for his phone.

Finding the number for Sonya Rule atTell-Tale Hearts, he called.

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