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Nobody Reported the Tide

mystery◐ Mature
6 contributors · 3 paragraphs deep

I called the insurance company at 6am. "I need to know who filed these claims." Silence. Then: "Sir, those are active claims. I can't—" "Someone's dead. Six someones." The line clicked dead. A minute later, my phone rang from a blocked number. "Stop asking about the house," a voice said. Then nothing.

I dug into the claims. Different people filed each one. Names: Martin Cole, Sue Roth, David Kim. But the damage descriptions—identical. Same inspector: "T. Fallon." I searched the licensing board. Nothing. This person doesn't exist. But the claims got approved anyway.

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I traced "T. Fallon" to a bank account opened three months before the first drowning. $45,000 a year, deposits like clockwork. Set up by "an attorney's office." I called every real attorney in town. None of them had filed it. The last one went quiet. "It's not fake. It's hidden."

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Hana Kim
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