Chapter 6 - The Brother Who Did Not Exist
Nora had no brother.
At least, that was what she had believed for thirty-two years.
Samuel drove them away from the facility while Nora sat rigidly in the passenger seat.
“Could Evelyn be confused?” he asked.
“She knew the trust details.”
“That does not answer the question.”
“She looked directly at me.”
“Mentally competent people can still be wrong about individual memories.”
Nora stared through the window.
“My mother had two daughters.”
“According to public records.”
Nora turned toward him.
“What does that mean?”
“I started reviewing hospital records after we found the custody agreement.”
“And?”
“There is no accessible birth certificate for you in the standard county archive.”
“I have a birth certificate.”
“You have a certified copy issued when you were five.”
Nora felt pressure building behind her eyes.
“Why would it be issued five years later?”
“Records can be replaced for ordinary reasons. Fire damage. Corrections. Adoption.”
“Adoption?”
“I’m not saying you were adopted.”
“But you are thinking it.”
Samuel kept his attention on the road.
“I am thinking your family history contains deliberate gaps.”
Nora called Margaret.
Her mother did not answer.
She called Richard.
He answered after several rings.
“Where are you?” Nora demanded.
“At home.”
“Is Mom there?”
“No.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
Nora heard tension in his breathing.
“I spoke to Evelyn.”
Silence.
“Dad?”
“You should not have done that.”
“She said I have a brother.”
Richard exhaled slowly.
“Evelyn said many things.”
“Do I have a brother?”
“No.”
“You answered too quickly.”
“Because the question is ridiculous.”
“Why was my birth certificate reissued when I was five?”
Richard said nothing.
“Dad.”
“Ask your mother.”
“She isn’t answering.”
“That is not my problem.”
“Were you there when I was born?”
The call ended.
Nora stared at the screen.
Samuel glanced toward her.
“That was an answer.”
They returned to the lake house after midnight.
Adrian was waiting in the library.
He had received a temporary court order preventing Evelyn from being moved until the guardianship hearing.
“That gives us forty-eight hours,” he said.
Nora placed both hands on the desk.
“I need you to find my brother.”
Adrian studied her.
“Evelyn may have meant several things. A biological brother, an adopted brother, another trust beneficiary she considered family.”
“She said, ‘Find your brother.’”
Adrian opened a folder.
“I found something while reviewing your childhood records.”
He placed a newspaper clipping in front of Nora.
The article reported a fire at St. Catherine’s Women’s Center thirty-two years earlier.
The fire occurred on the night Nora was born.
Three newborns were evacuated.
One child was reported missing for six hours and later recovered.
Nora read the article twice.
“The missing baby was a boy.”
“Yes.”
“Was he found?”
“The hospital said he was.”
“Where is he now?”
“No name was published.”
Samuel entered the room carrying an enhanced audio file.
“I have a preliminary result from the cassette.”
He connected his laptop to the speakers.
Margaret’s younger voice filled the room again.
“I did what you told me to do.”
Then the unknown man spoke.
This time, the sound was clearer.
“You signed every document?”
Nora recognized the voice.
Richard.
Her father.
She sat down slowly.
Adrian listened without moving.
The recording continued.
“And Evelyn believes you are taking Nora home?”
“Yes.”
“She cannot be allowed to file the guardianship petition.”
“You promised no one would be hurt.”
“No one needs to be hurt if you cooperate.”
“What about Nora’s trust?”
“It will be handled.”
“That money belongs to her.”
“Not after tonight.”
The tape ended.
Nora stared toward the dark window.
Richard had not merely known.
He had directed Margaret.
Samuel placed another document on the desk.
“I also found a business connection. Before marrying your mother, Richard worked as a junior financial officer at Vale Instruments.”
“For Evelyn?”
“Yes. He was dismissed after internal auditors discovered unauthorized transfers.”
“Was he charged?”
“No. Evelyn chose not to prosecute because Margaret was pregnant.”
“With Vanessa?”
Samuel shook his head.
“With you.”
Nora felt a cold realization.
“My parents met because he worked for Evelyn.”
“Yes.”
“And he married Margaret after being accused of stealing from her family.”
“That appears to be the sequence.”
Adrian turned the newspaper clipping around.
“There is another detail. A volunteer nurse at St. Catherine’s gave an interview after the fire. She said two infants were removed through a side entrance before firefighters arrived.”
“Two?”
“One was returned. The other was never officially acknowledged.”
Nora looked at the photograph of herself and Evelyn.
“How do we find him?”
Samuel opened a genealogy database on his computer.
“With DNA, if he has ever submitted a sample.”
“I have not.”
“We can collect yours now.”
Nora agreed.
They prepared the sample and sent it for expedited private analysis through a forensic laboratory.
While Samuel arranged the transfer, Nora walked upstairs.
The mansion contained seven bedrooms.
She had chosen the smallest room overlooking the east garden as her own because the larger rooms felt unnecessary.
Now she entered a guest room at the end of the hall.
Blue wallpaper had once covered the walls, but a previous owner had painted them white.
She found a loose panel near the closet.
Behind it was a child’s drawing.
Two small figures stood beside the lake.
Above them, someone had written in shaky handwriting:
NORA AND ELI.
Nora touched the faded letters.
A floorboard creaked behind her.
She turned.
Vanessa stood in the doorway.
May you like
Her sister’s face was wet with tears.
“I know who Eli is,” Vanessa said.
