Chapter 12
1344 Words
Chapter Twelve
The documentation from the safety deposit box arrived promptly at 10 a.m. via Federal Express. Anna called less than a minute after I signed for the package to confirm it had arrived. I told her it had and thanked her for her promptness in sending it.
“Have Abe and Elijah made it back to L.A.?” I asked.
“Not yet, but I expect them this afternoon,” Anna replied.
“Please, thank them again for me. I truly appreciate everything.”
“Thank you, for agreeing to help. We all liked Victoria and hope that while getting you some much-needed answers, we’ll also get her the justice she deserves.”
“I hope I can find something that will help. By the way, my friend Leah has also offered to assist if she can. I probably should have mentioned it yesterday, but she’s a reporter, so she has some resources and connections that might be useful.”
Anna’s laugh tinkled into the phone, a pleasant, carefree sound. “We’re well aware of Ms. Campbell’s profession. And please, thank her for us. We may need to utilize some of those resources in the future.”
Despite being busted, I decided to play it cool. “Uh, great. I’ll let her know,” I stammered, making Anna laugh again. Being cool under pressure was so underrated.
“And AJ, I’m a resource, too, should you need one.”
“Thanks, Anna, I appreciate it. I have a feeling I’m going to need all the help I can get.”
“Just remember, we are always here for you, AJ.” I truly believed she meant it.
We said our goodbyes and hung up. Even though I was left sitting with the FedEx envelope, thanks to Anna’s call, I didn’t feel so alone.
I still wasn’t sure I was up for the task at hand, but with Charlie’s photos already e-mailed to the magazine, Nicoh snoring soundly on his doggie pillow in the living room and a full caramel sauce latte sitting in front of me, I’d run out of reasons to procrastinate. Unceremoniously, I opened the FedEx box from Anna.
On the top of the stack, she had left a note indicating all documents from the safety deposit box were present and ordered by date. I wondered if they’d been like that or if Anna had arranged them for efficiency. Either way, I was appreciative. Just looking at the size of the stack was daunting enough, without having to organize it as well. It was official—Anna was my new second best friend.
Following Anna’s letter was Joseph Winestone’s letter to Sir Edward. It matched what Elijah had mentioned the previous day. Winestone had come clean to his old friend about the adoption and the supporting documents contained within the safety deposit box.
Four to five reams of adoption-related legalese comprised the bulk of the documentation. I waded through it, though I needed an interpreter—and a stronger beverage—to understand it all. I did make a note of the pertinent stuff I found: the address and phone numbers of 1) the primary contact at the Sterling Joy Agency, Mrs. Mavis Baumgardner, 2) the Winestone’s lawyer, Mr. Jonathan Silverton and 3) the contact at the University of Chicago Medical Center, Cheryl Earley. After nearly thirty years, I wondered how current this information was going to be. My guess was not very.
Next was a document titled “Non-identifying Information.” Interesting, considering while it didn’t provide names of the birth parents, etc., it certainly seemed to provide a lot of other personal information. In fact, it was more information than most people probably knew about me. I read through it anyway, to see if anything stood out.
Non-identifying Information
Age: Father—35; Mother—34
Race: Both—Caucasian
Religion: Unknown
Ethnic background: Unknown
General description: Father—6 feet 2 inches, 210 pounds, black-brown hair, dark-blue eyes; Mother—5 feet 10 inches, 130 pounds, reddish-brown hair, blue-gray eyes
Education: Both—Post-graduate; Father—PhD
Occupation: Father—Scientist; Mother—Researcher
Hobbies: Unknown
Interests: Unknown
Talents: Both—multilingual; specific languages unknown
Relationship between birth parents (Married, Single, Separated, Divorced): Unknown
Birth grandparents: Deceased/Unknown
Current status/Reason given for adoption: Birth parents deceased
Actual birthplace and date of adoptee:
University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois; June 19
Age of adoptee at time of adoption: Two months
Existence and age of other children born to birth parents: One; Girl—Two months
Current status of other children: Unknown
That was it for the non-identifying information. Next was a letter from Joseph Winestone to Mavis Baumgardner, requesting additional information about the parents’ deaths, as well as an updated status of the other baby girl.
Mrs. Baumgardner must have initially elected not to respond in writing because the following pages were handwritten notes—perhaps by Mr. Winestone—detailing a conversation between Mrs. Baumgardner, Jonathan Silverton and the Winestones that addressed the previous letter.
The notes were consistent with the information Elijah had supplied the previous day regarding the arrangements made by the biological parents and the subsequent passing of the mother following childbirth. And then, the bombshell Elijah hadn’t shared.
According to the notes, the father committed suicide shortly after his twin girls were born and the mother of his children had died. My heart ached as my eyes filled with tears. I dropped the papers, hugged my knees and rocked back and forth.
Sufficiently subdued, I returned to my task. Mrs. Baumgardner had chosen not to share any more information regarding the suicide, though perhaps no one had asked. Would that have been considered tacky? If so, I would have flunked in the social etiquette arena, but then I didn’t feel so crummy because I knew Leah would have too.
For now, I appreciated a reprieve from the details, but it was information we’d have to follow up on regardless. I made a mental note to add that to the list later, on Leah’s side. I understood why Elijah had hesitated yesterday and silently thanked him for his compassion.
According to Mr. Winestone’s notes, Mrs. Baumgardner indicated the birth parents had made it abundantly clear that under no circumstances were the children to be adopted together. Though the Winestones were clearly disappointed, Mrs. Baumgardner refused to be pressed further on the topic. There wasn’t much merit in the rest of their conversation, though Mr. Winestone did make a note to follow up on the girl at a later date.
Sure enough, immediately following Mr. Winestone’s handwritten notes were a slew of letters, both to and from Mrs. Baumgardner that continued to breach the subject. She remained unrelenting—under no circumstances would she violate the agreement the agency had made with the birth parents. In her final letter, however, she did assure the Winestones the other baby girl had found a loving home, though she shared no more than that. In my book, the whole thing felt off somehow.
Finally, I reached the birth certificates—the documents I dreaded, and yet longed to see. I was glad Abe and Elijah had prepared me for this, but my stomach was still filled with butterflies.
I carefully lifted Victoria’s most-recent birth certificate out and found mine directly beneath. Though both contained facts I already knew, I was shaking. Where the heck had the Winestones gotten this information? I shuddered, considering the possibilities. Next was a plain piece of typing paper, which contained nothing but my parent’s Phoenix address, now my home. Though I’d been told it was here, I had hoped for some note, some comment or indication of how it had made its way into the Winestone’s possession. If it had secrets to tell—which I was sure it did—it wasn’t sharing.
I knew the final two pieces of paper contained the most important information—perhaps more important than anything I would read again. I took a deep breath and grasped a certificate in each hand. As I held them side-by-side, I read the names of the birth parents I would never know: Father—Martin Alexander Singer; Mother—Alison Marie Anders.
I then proceeded to read the name of each child. Ella Marie Singer was born at 2:15:30 a.m. on June 19. Victoria had been my older sister by a minute and a half, I realized as I glanced at the other certificate. Arianna Elena Singer had been born at 2:17:00 a.m. on the same day. The butterflies turned to outright queasiness as I absorbed the fact my parents—Richard and Eileen Jackson—had kept all but the surname I’d been given at birth. How much more had they known, I wondered? And, had it played a role in their deaths? Victoria thought it had, and she’d only begun to unravel the secrets.
Well, big sister, I thought as I gently placed our birth certificates back into the box. It’s high time we finished what you started.
- Writer
