A woman calling herself Margaret Cole claimed to be her aunt.
She raised Anna abroad, moving from country to country.
“When I was seventeen, I found my original birth certificate,” Anna said. “My name was Anna Sophie Bennett. My father was Carl Jonathan Bennett.”
“Where is Margaret now?” I asked.
“She disappeared three weeks ago.”
At that moment, one of the investigators entered.
He had heard the name.
Margaret Cole was not merely an alias used by Lenora.
She was a real person.
Lenora’s younger sister.
For decades, Margaret had helped conceal Evelyn and Lucas. She had also taken Carl’s daughter, allowing him to believe Anna had been lost in the same car cr/@/sh that claimed Sophie.
“Why?” Anna demanded.
The investigator glanced toward the recording equipment.
“We believe Lenora feared Carl would transfer the Bennett estate to his daughter. Without an heir, the old Vale debt claim remained active.”
