Evelyn stared at her.
“Compensation?”
“That word destroyed Nora.”
Margaret looked horrified.
“My parents were paid?”
“Nora thought so.”
“Did you know?”
“No.”
Rebecca continued.
“Nora told Simon to go to hell and hung up.”
“Then?”
“She became obsessed with finding proof.”
Nora had a folder Margaret previously gave her containing copies of adoption documents.
One page referred to a payment from Caldwell Family Services to Thomas and Elaine Bell.
Twenty-five thousand dollars.
In 1995.
Margaret stood.
“I never saw that.”
Rebecca looked at her coldly.
“Nora did.”
“She thought she was sold.”
The words filled the hospital room.
Evelyn put both hands over her mouth.
Rebecca nodded.
“She wouldn’t let me drive after that.”
“So where did she go?”
“To see Simon.”
“In Chicago?”
“Yes.”
“You let her?”
“Have you met your sister?”
Despite everything, Rebecca smiled faintly.
“Stopping Nora from doing something after she makes up her mind is not really an option.”
Evelyn almost smiled too.
That sounded strangely familiar.
“What happened?”
“I took Maisie to a hotel. Nora went to Simon’s office.”
“And?”
“She called me around nine.”
Rebecca’s expression darkened.
“She said the documents were not what Simon claimed.”
Evelyn leaned forward.
“What were they?”
“Payments from your grandfather to the Bells.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Nora?”
“She said she found letters.”
Margaret stepped closer.
“What letters?”
“From Daniel.”
Evelyn’s heart stopped.
“My father?”
Rebecca nodded.
“Nora said your father knew the Bells.”
Silence.
Margaret looked completely stunned.
“That’s impossible.”
“Nora didn’t think so.”
“What did the letters say?”
“She wouldn’t tell me over the phone.”
Rebecca swallowed.
“She said, ‘Everything Margaret told me is wrong.’”
Evelyn turned toward her mother.
Margaret’s face had gone white.
“She said she was coming to the hotel.”
“She never arrived?”
“No.”
“What time?”
“About nine fifteen.”
“And you didn’t call police?”
“I did at midnight.”
“What did they say?”
“Nora is thirty-one years old. No evidence of danger. She had voluntarily gone somewhere and stopped answering.”
“So this morning?”
“I decided to bring Maisie to the wedding.”