Chapter 8: Finding Evelyn
Detective Harris found Evelyn Hart before sunset.
Not because she was hiding.
Because she had never left.
She lived forty-six miles away.
For thirty-four years, Daniel’s biological mother had been less than an hour from him.
When Harris called, Daniel sat beside me on the couch.
“She agreed to meet,” he said after hanging up.
His voice sounded strange.
“You don’t have to do it today.””
“Yes, I do.””
“Daniel.””
“If I wait, I’ll spend the whole night imagining her.””
I understood.
So we drove to a small diner halfway between our house and Evelyn’s town.
Harris insisted on being nearby because Evelyn might have information relevant to Thomas’s death.
Rachel wasn’t invited.
Daniel had stopped answering her calls.
At 7:12 p.m., the diner door opened.
A woman stepped inside.
Daniel stopped breathing.
She was in her late fifties, with silver threaded through dark brown hair.
She wore a simple navy coat.
Her eyes moved across the room.
Then they found Daniel.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
“Oh.””
One syllable.
That was all she managed.
Daniel stood.
Neither of them moved closer.
Evelyn’s eyes filled with tears.
“You look like him.””
Daniel swallowed.
“My father?””
She shook her head.
“My dad.””
Something about that answer broke the tension.
Evelyn sat across from us.
I introduced myself.
When she noticed my stomach, her expression changed.
“You’re having a boy?””
“Yes.””
She smiled through tears.
“Thomas always said Daniel would be a good father.””
Daniel looked down.
“You knew him near the end?””
Evelyn’s smile vanished.
“Yes.””
“Tell me.””
She folded her hands.
“Your father found me.””
“I thought you contacted him.””
“I did. But he had already been looking.””
“Why?””
“Because he found letters.””
Daniel frowned.
“What letters?””
“The ones I sent when you were little.””
Daniel leaned forward.
“You wrote to me?””
“Every birthday.””
“Where are they?””
“I don’t know.””
“Did Dad see them?””
“Eventually.””
Evelyn explained that Margaret had intercepted the letters for years.
Thomas discovered several hidden in an old suitcase after Margaret’s mother died.
“He called me,” Evelyn said.
“What did he say?””
“He apologized.””
Daniel looked away.
Evelyn continued.
“He thought I abandoned both of you. Margaret told him I took money and disappeared.””
“Did you?””
“No.””
“What happened?””
Evelyn’s fingers tightened.
“After you were born, I developed a severe infection. I spent weeks in the hospital. Thomas was frightened. Margaret was already close to him.””
“How close?””
Evelyn looked uncomfortable.
“She wanted him.””
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Of course.””
“Thomas and I weren’t married. We were young. We fought constantly. But he loved you.””
“And you?””
Evelyn stared at him.
“I never stopped.””
Daniel’s eyes filled.
I reached beneath the table and held his hand.
“What happened when you recovered?”” he asked.
“I went to get you.””
“From Margaret?””
“Yes.””
“She said Dad took me overseas.””
Evelyn nodded.
“She told me Thomas had left with you and wanted nothing to do with me.””
“And you believed her?””
“At first.””
“What changed?””
“I saw Thomas six months later.””
Daniel frowned.
“Where?””
“A grocery store.””
My stomach dropped.
“He had you in his cart.””
Daniel stared at her.
“What did you do?””
“I confronted him.””
Evelyn’s eyes filled again.
“He thought I’d abandoned you. I thought he’d stolen you.””
“So you both realized Margaret lied.””
“Yes.””
“Then why didn’t you take me back?””
Evelyn went silent.
Daniel’s voice sharpened.
“Why?””
“Because Margaret threatened me.””
“With what?””
Evelyn looked toward Harris, who sat several tables away.
Then back at Daniel.
“She had something on Thomas.””
“What?””
“Evidence that he had committed fraud involving my father’s property.””
The house.
I felt Daniel’s hand tighten around mine.
“She told us that if we tried to remove you from her home, she would send Thomas to prison.””
“So Dad let her keep me?””
“He thought he was protecting you.””
Daniel pushed back from the table.
“He let a woman blackmail him into giving up his child?””
“He was terrified.””
“That’s not an excuse.””
“No.””
Evelyn didn’t defend Thomas.
That seemed to matter.
Daniel slowly sat again.
“Did you know someone was drugging him?””
Evelyn’s face changed.
“Yes.””
“Who?””
“I never saw it happen.””
“Then how did you know?””
“Thomas called me one night. He said he kept getting dizzy after eating at home.””
“Margaret cooked.””
“Usually.””
Daniel leaned forward.
“Did he suspect her?””
“Yes.””
My heart pounded.
“Then why didn’t he leave?””
“He was planning to.””
“When?””
“The day he died.””
Daniel went still.
Evelyn reached into her handbag.
“I’ve kept this for thirty-four years.””
She placed an old key on the table.
It looked almost identical to the storage key.
“What is that?”” Daniel asked.
“The key to my father’s safe-deposit box.””
“Why does it matter?””
“Because Thomas gave it to me the night before he died.””
Daniel stared at it.
“What’s inside?””
“I don’t know.””
“You never opened it?””
“I couldn’t.””
“Why?””
“The bank required two keys.””
Evelyn touched the key.
“I had one.””
“Who had the other?””
She looked at Daniel.
“Your father.””
I remembered the box from the storage unit.
The old shaving kit.
The photographs.
The papers.
“Was Thomas’s key ever found?”” I asked.
Evelyn shook her head.
Then Daniel suddenly stood.
“The watch.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
“Dad’s old watch. The one Mom gave me.””
He was already reaching for his phone.
“I remember something inside the box.””
He called Harris over.
“The watch had a strange metal piece attached to the chain. I thought it was decorative.””
Evelyn’s face went white.
“What shape?””
“Long. Narrow.””
“Like a key?””
Daniel stared at her.
May you like
“Yes.””
Evelyn whispered, “Then Thomas wanted you to open the box.””
