Chapter 8 - THE BLOODLINE
Eleanor stood so abruptly that her chair fell backward.
“My grandfather?”
Katherine nodded through tears.
Claire stared at her.
Armand Beaumont had been nearly fifty-five when Rebecca disappeared.
He had been married to Victoria for decades.
He had controlled Rebecca's employment, financial security, and access to the family foundation.
The possibility that he was also the father of her child introduced a darker motive for the cover-up.
“Was the relationship consensual?” Daniel asked carefully.
Katherine looked down.
“Rebecca told me she had tried to end it. She said Armand threatened her job and her reputation. She was afraid nobody would believe her.”
Eleanor pressed a hand against her mouth.
“Grandmother knew?”
“I don't know.”
Claire thought of Victoria's tears.
The confession.
The fear.
Perhaps Victoria had spent twenty-three years living beside a man whose cruelty she understood better than anyone.
Daniel spoke gently.
“We need to find Rebecca before drawing conclusions. We need her account, and we need to respect what she wants to disclose.”
Katherine nodded.
“She deserves that.”
Claire agreed.
This wasn't simply a mystery to solve.
Rebecca was a person who had been harmed, silenced, and forced to disappear.
If she was alive, she deserved control over her own story.
But the missing child still haunted Claire.
“Where would they have taken the baby?”
Katherine shook her head.
“I've wondered that for years.”
Eleanor picked up her chair.
“Could the child have been adopted?”
“Possibly,” Daniel said. “But if the transfer wasn't lawful, the records may have been falsified.”
Claire looked at him.
“Can we trace it?”
“We can try.”
The following morning, Daniel contacted an attorney who specialized in wrongful adoption cases and historical institutional abuse.
Her name was Olivia Grant.
Olivia agreed to review the available records.
She studied the transfer documents and immediately noticed an inconsistency.
“The infant's date of birth was changed.”
Claire leaned forward.
“How do you know?”
“The hospital admission form lists November twelve. The guardianship transfer lists November twenty.”
Eleanor frowned.
“Why would someone change a birth date?”
“To make it harder to connect the infant to the mother. Or to fit another record.”
Olivia examined the transfer code.
“This number refers to a private placement organization that no longer exists.”
“Can we find its files?” Claire asked.
“Possibly. Some were transferred to the state. Others were destroyed or sealed.”
Daniel said, “We have evidence of possible unlawful confinement and a missing child. Can we seek a court order?”
Olivia nodded.
“With the right supporting statements and an active investigation, yes.”
Claire felt hope stir.
Meanwhile, Eleanor returned to the Beaumont estate to confront Victoria.
Claire insisted on accompanying her, but Eleanor refused.
“My grandmother trusts me. If I go alone, she might talk.”
Claire reluctantly agreed.
Victoria was sitting near the conservatory windows when Eleanor entered.
She looked exhausted.
“Grandmother?”
Victoria smiled weakly.
“My darling.”
Eleanor sat beside her.
“I know about Rebecca.”
Victoria's smile disappeared.
For a long moment, she stared at the garden.
Then she whispered, “I wondered when you would.”
“Was Armand the father of her baby?”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Eleanor began crying.
“Why didn't you help her?”
Victoria's face crumpled.
“I tried to.”
“Then where is she?”
“I don't know.”
Eleanor stood.
“You keep saying that. But you must know something.”
Victoria reached for her hand.
“After Julien died, I helped Rebecca escape the hospital.”
Eleanor froze.
“You did?”
“Margaret and I arranged it. Rebecca had been heavily medicated. She couldn't remember everything that happened.”
“What about the baby?”
Victoria's voice broke.
“Armand had already taken her.”
Eleanor sat down slowly.
“Where?”
Victoria shook her head.
“I begged him to tell me. He refused.”
“Did you ever find out?”
Victoria looked toward the doorway.
Then she whispered, “Years later, I found a photograph.”
She opened a drawer beside her chair.
Inside was a worn envelope.
Eleanor removed the photograph.
It showed a little girl about four years old standing beside a woman in a garden.
On the back was a handwritten message.
She's healthy. She's safe. Don't look for her.
Eleanor stared at the child's face.
Something about the smile seemed familiar.
“Who is she?”
Victoria's hands trembled.
“I don't know the name she was given.”
Eleanor turned the picture over.
A photography studio stamp appeared in the corner.
Brookfield Portraits — 2007.
She photographed both sides and sent them to Claire.
Within an hour, Daniel located the former studio owner.
The woman had retired but still kept some archived client records.
She remembered the photograph.
A wealthy couple had ordered prints of their adopted daughter.
Their name was Whitmore.
Claire stared.
“Whitmore?”
Daniel nodded.
“The same family name as the medical examiner.”
He searched further.
Dr. Samuel Whitmore had one daughter.
Her name was Natalie.
She was twenty-three.
And she worked as a junior prosecutor in the county district attorney's office.
Claire felt a chill.
“The child is working in law enforcement.”
Daniel nodded.
But then he opened another public record.
His expression changed.
“What?” Claire asked.
He turned the screen toward her.
Natalie Whitmore had recently filed a petition to change her legal name.
The new surname was Beaumont.
Claire stared at the document.
Then Daniel received a message from Eleanor.
Claire, my grandfather just came into the conservatory. He saw the photograph.
A second message appeared.
He knows we're looking for Natalie.
May you like
Then a final message.
“He said if Natalie learns who her mother is, someone else will die.”
