Chapter 16 - The Man with Two Names
The private investigator's name was Peter Lang.
He had operated a small agency in Boston for more than twenty years, specializing in background checks and missing-person inquiries. His license was active, and his business had no public connection to the Harrington family.
Detective Moore contacted him through counsel. Lang initially denied knowing anything about Lydia. When shown the bank transfer, he admitted that Thomas Mercer had hired him to locate a young woman placed through an adoption agency eighteen years earlier.
“Why?” Richard asked during the recorded interview.
“Mr. Mercer said he wanted to know whether she had access to a document.”
“What document?”
“I wasn't told.”
“Did you contact her?”
“No. I located the family and confirmed her identity. I did not approach her.”
Richard leaned forward. “Did you tell Mercer where she lived?”
Lang hesitated. “Yes.”
“Did you tell him where she worked?”
“Yes.”
The room went quiet.
Lang's attorney argued that the investigator had only performed lawful background research. Detective Moore reminded him that the inquiry involved confidential adoption information and that the police were examining how Lang had obtained it.
That evening, Richard told Lydia what they had learned.
“He was looking for me because of a document?” she asked.
“That appears to be the reason.”
“Not because he missed me.”
Richard had no answer.
Lydia looked at Anna's photograph. “I don't think I want to meet him.”
“You don't owe him a relationship.”
The next day, Elena received a call from an unknown number. The caller asked whether she was still employed by the Harrington family and whether she had ever seen a small blue envelope in the study. Elena refused to answer and contacted Richard immediately.
Detective Moore traced the call to a prepaid phone. The caller had known Elena's name, her work history, and the fact that she had been present when Richard was rescued from the coffin.
“I won't disappear because someone asks me a question,” Elena said when Richard offered to arrange an escort home.
“You shouldn't have to be brave every day.”
“Neither should Lydia.”
The comment stayed with him.
The foundation's annual scholarship event was scheduled for the following weekend. Richard considered postponing it, but Lydia insisted the children who had been invited should not lose their celebration because of the family's history.
They strengthened the visitor procedures and kept the event open.
Lydia helped children choose books. Daniel greeted families, and Victoria supervised volunteers. Elena stayed near the registration desk, where she could see the entrance without making the children feel watched.
A woman in a navy coat approached the desk.
She gave her name as Patricia Wells and said she had an appointment with Richard. No appointment appeared on the list. While the volunteer checked, the woman turned toward Lydia.
“Lydia?”
Lydia looked up.
“I knew your mother,” the woman said.
Richard crossed the room. “Please step back.”
The woman dropped a small envelope on the table and moved toward the exit. Security stopped her before she reached the doors.
The envelope contained a photograph of Anna and a handwritten note.
Ask your father what happened the night you were moved.
The woman's real name was Marjorie Bell. She had worked as a temporary assistant at the adoption agency eighteen years earlier.
She agreed to speak with the police.
May you like
Her first statement changed the entire case.
“The placement wasn't arranged because Lydia was in danger from strangers,” Marjorie said. “It was arranged because someone inside the Harrington family had already decided the baby was a problem.”
