The photograph changed the entire investigation.<\/p>\n
For months we had believed there were six children.<\/p>\n
Now there was evidence of a seventh.<\/p>\n
The baby in the photograph had been wearing Clara's number, but it was not Clara.<\/p>\n
The detective sent the image to the hospital archives.<\/p>\n
The bracelet number had been altered.<\/p>\n
The original number underneath was faint.<\/p>\n
507.<\/p>\n
No child with that number appeared in the official registry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was Baby 507?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don't know yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas looked troubled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI've seen that number.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn your mother's notes.\u201d<\/p>\n
He opened the Black Book again.<\/p>\n
The number did not appear in the names section.<\/p>\n
It appeared in the margins.<\/p>\n
507.<\/p>\n
Always followed by a small circle.<\/p>\n
My mother had used circles to mark children she believed were still alive.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen she knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn't she tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe may have been afraid she was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cAgain.\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
The detective traced the photograph.<\/p>\n
It had been developed at a pharmacy that still kept archived order slips.<\/p>\n
The customer name was Margaret Hale.<\/p>\n
My mother.<\/p>\n
The photograph had been printed three days after my delivery.<\/p>\n
She had kept it for decades.<\/p>\n
But why?<\/p>\n
The detective found another image.<\/p>\n
My mother standing beside the same woman.<\/p>\n
This time the woman was older.<\/p>\n
The photograph had been taken ten years later.<\/p>\n
The woman was holding a teenage girl.<\/p>\n
The girl's face was turned away.<\/p>\n
On the back, my mother had written:<\/p>\n
She knows.<\/p>\n
We searched the woman's identity.<\/p>\n
Her name was Susan Vale.<\/p>\n
Samuel Vale's sister.<\/p>\n
My heart tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cSamuel.\u201d<\/p>\n
The man whose estate had been used in Arthur's scheme.<\/p>\n
The man whose death had been ruled an accident until the evidence proved otherwise.<\/p>\n
His sister had been involved somehow.<\/p>\n
The detective located Susan.<\/p>\n
She was ninety-one.<\/p>\n
She lived in a nursing facility in Virginia.<\/p>\n
We visited her that afternoon.<\/p>\n
When she saw the photograph, she began to cry.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou found her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe girl.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is she?\u201d<\/p>\n
Susan looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stopped breathing.<\/p>\n
\u201cJulia?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour first child.\u201d<\/p>\n
My hands went cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe survived?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
Susan shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYears ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she found out who she was.\u201d<\/p>\n
The detective asked Susan to explain.<\/p>\n
Susan said Samuel had discovered Arthur's operation before his death.<\/p>\n
He had tried to help my mother.<\/p>\n
He knew children were being moved.<\/p>\n
He also knew one child belonged to me.<\/p>\n
He had arranged for that child to be protected.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a private school.\u201d<\/p>\n
I frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cA school?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause nobody looked for babies in schools.\u201d<\/p>\n
The arrangement had lasted until the girl was old enough to understand.<\/p>\n
Then she disappeared.<\/p>\n
Susan gave us a name.<\/p>\n
Anna Reed.<\/p>\n
The detective searched.<\/p>\n
There were several.<\/p>\n
Then one matched the age.<\/p>\n
Anna Reed was forty years old.<\/p>\n
She lived in North Carolina.<\/p>\n
She worked as a librarian.<\/p>\n
I looked at Julia.<\/p>\n
Another woman.<\/p>\n
Another life.<\/p>\n
Another missing child.<\/p>\n
We drove there.<\/p>\n
Anna agreed to meet us.<\/p>\n
She arrived carrying a canvas bag.<\/p>\n
When she saw the photograph, she stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother had that.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was your mother?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSusan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour biological mother?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe raised me for twelve years.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt confused.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt a boarding school.\u201d<\/p>\n
The detective showed her the hospital photograph.<\/p>\n
Anna looked at it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI've seen this baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my mother's album.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know who the baby is?\u201d<\/p>\n
She shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot the baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe woman holding her.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother?\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe came to see me when I was twelve.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo tell me I wasn't who I thought I was.\u201d<\/p>\n
I could barely speak.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat my parents were alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe didn't give me names.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she say Margaret?\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I sat down.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're my daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n
She did not move.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wondered.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause your eyes are mine.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed through tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn't proof.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
She opened her bag.<\/p>\n
Inside was a small envelope.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother gave me this when she died.\u201d<\/p>\n
I opened it.<\/p>\n
Inside was a DNA test.<\/p>\n
The result was old.<\/p>\n
My name was listed.<\/p>\n
Biological mother.<\/p>\n
Margaret Collins.<\/p>\n
I covered my mouth.<\/p>\n
Anna was my daughter.<\/p>\n
Not Julia.<\/p>\n
Not Clara.<\/p>\n
Not one of the children we had already identified.<\/p>\n
Another daughter.<\/p>\n
The baby in the photograph.<\/p>\n
Baby 507.<\/p>\n
The child my mother had hidden.<\/p>\n
I looked at Anna.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn't you come find me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was eighteen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was told you didn't want me.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho told you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
He had continued the lie.<\/p>\n
Even after my mother protected Anna.<\/p>\n
Even after the child grew up.<\/p>\n
Arthur had found her.<\/p>\n
He had told her I had abandoned her.<\/p>\n
He had kept us apart.<\/p>\n
Anna cried.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believed him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI would never have abandoned you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The detective asked whether Anna knew where Arthur had found her.<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had a man watching me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeter Collins.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Thomas.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeter.\u201d<\/p>\n
The security consultant.<\/p>\n
My mother's protector.<\/p>\n
Anna shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeter wasn't working for Arthur.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why was he watching you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was protecting me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas looked relieved.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mother had arranged it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe paid him.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pieces fit.<\/p>\n
My mother had hidden Anna.<\/p>\n
Peter had watched her.<\/p>\n
Arthur had eventually discovered her.<\/p>\n
Then Anna had been moved again.<\/p>\n
But there was one missing period.<\/p>\n
From age eighteen to twenty-five.<\/p>\n
Anna looked uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened then?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI ran.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSouth Carolina.\u201d<\/p>\n
The detective checked.<\/p>\n
Anna had lived under another surname.<\/p>\n
She had married.<\/p>\n
Her husband had died years later.<\/p>\n
She had no children.<\/p>\n
She had kept the hospital photograph.<\/p>\n
I asked the question I was afraid to ask.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you know about the others?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid your mother?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause your mother told her.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked down.<\/p>\n
My mother had known.<\/p>\n
She had known Anna existed.<\/p>\n
She had watched her grow.<\/p>\n
She had protected her.<\/p>\n
And she had never told me.<\/p>\n
I was angry.<\/p>\n
Then I remembered her letter.<\/p>\n
She had believed truth could get me killed.<\/p>\n
That did not excuse everything.<\/p>\n
But it explained the fear.<\/p>\n
Anna looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you hate her?\u201d<\/p>\n
I shook my head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hate that she thought she had to choose silence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you still?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause she saved me.\u201d<\/p>\n
I reached for her hand.<\/p>\n
This time the contact felt natural.<\/p>\n
Perhaps because we had both spent years wondering whether the other existed.<\/p>\n
The detective asked Anna whether she knew the location of the Black Book's missing pages.<\/p>\n
She shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about Baby 507's original records?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother had them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna smiled sadly.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe gave them to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYears ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said you would know when you needed them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The detective looked toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did your mother give you?\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought.<\/p>\n
My mother's possessions.<\/p>\n
The cedar chest.<\/p>\n
The family Bible.<\/p>\n
The wooden box.<\/p>\n
The lake house.<\/p>\n
The photographs.<\/p>\n
Then I remembered.<\/p>\n
A small music box.<\/p>\n
My mother had given it to me on my thirtieth birthday.<\/p>\n
I had kept it packed away.<\/p>\n
We returned home.<\/p>\n
The music box was still there.<\/p>\n
Inside was a tiny compartment.<\/p>\n
The detective opened it.<\/p>\n
A folded document fell out.<\/p>\n
Baby 507.<\/p>\n
Female.<\/p>\n
Mother: Margaret Hale.<\/p>\n
Father: Samuel Vale.<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cSamuel?\u201d<\/p>\n
The detective looked stunned.<\/p>\n
Anna whispered, \u201cMy father.\u201d<\/p>\n
My daughter was the biological child of Samuel Vale.<\/p>\n
The man Arthur had murdered.<\/p>\n
That explained everything.<\/p>\n
Arthur had not simply wanted Samuel's money.<\/p>\n
He wanted his heir.<\/p>\n
Anna was the legitimate heir to Samuel's estate.<\/p>\n
Daniel had been created as a false substitute.<\/p>\n
Arthur had used Daniel's identity to claim the estate.<\/p>\n
The millions had never belonged to Daniel.<\/p>\n
They belonged to Anna.<\/p>\n
My daughter.<\/p>\n
The detective reviewed Samuel's original will.<\/p>\n
Anna was named sole heir.<\/p>\n
Arthur's forged amendment had erased her.<\/p>\n
The trust money belonged to her.<\/p>\n
The entire financial scheme had been built to prevent her from being found.<\/p>\n
I looked at Anna.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou lost your father before you ever knew him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I lost you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Arthur stole both of those lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She reached across the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he didn't get the last word.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the first time, I believed her.<\/p>\n
Then Thomas walked into the room holding another document.<\/p>\n
His face had gone pale.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
He handed it to me.<\/p>\n
It was a death certificate.<\/p>\n
Anna Reed.<\/p>\n
The date was six months earlier.<\/p>\n
I looked at Anna.<\/p>\n
She was sitting beside me.<\/p>\n
Alive.<\/p>\n
The certificate was fraudulent.<\/p>\n
But the signature belonged to a doctor who was still practicing.<\/p>\n
The detective took it.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone is trying to kill her on paper.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna looked frightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause legally,\u201d the detective said, \u201ca dead heir cannot claim an estate.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Thomas.<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur.\u201d<\/p>\n
He shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
The detective checked the filing date.<\/p>\n
It had been submitted yesterday.<\/p>\n
Arthur was in prison.<\/p>\n
He could not have filed it personally.<\/p>\n
Someone else was still working for him.<\/p>\n
Then my phone rang.<\/p>\n
Unknown number.<\/p>\n
I answered.<\/p>\n
A man's voice said,<\/p>\n
\u201cYou found Anna.\u201d<\/p>\n
I froze.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou're looking in the wrong place.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere should I look?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the grave.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat grave?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one marked Margaret Collins.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mother's grave.<\/p>\n
The caller continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe left something there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The line went dead.<\/p>\n
Thomas stared at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe grave.\u201d<\/p>\n
We drove to the cemetery.<\/p>\n
The detective searched beneath the headstone.<\/p>\n
A metal box was buried in the soil.<\/p>\n
Inside was one final document.<\/p>\n
A handwritten confession.<\/p>\n
My mother had written:<\/p>\n
If Anna is ever found, tell her the truth about Samuel.<\/p>\n
But beneath that was another sentence.<\/p>\n
Samuel was not her father.<\/p>\n
I stared at the page.<\/p>\n
The detective whispered,<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who is?\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer was written on the next line.<\/p>\n
Thomas Collins.<\/p>\n
The photograph changed the entire investigation. For months we had believed there were six children. Now there was evidence of a seventh. The baby in the photograph had been wearing … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7667"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7687,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7667\/revisions\/7687"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}