Page 62 of The Forsaken (Echoes from the Past #4)

FIFTY-THREE

It took Quinn and Logan less than a quarter of an hour to reach the address Dr. Crawford had given them.

On the ground floor, a discreet brass plaque by the door announced the offices of Richards and Saunders, Esqs.

Logan rang the bell, since the door was locked, and they were buzzed through.

It being a Saturday, there was no receptionist at the front desk.

The office was quiet and dim, the lamps not having been lit in the reception area.

A nondescript-looking man in his early fifties came out to greet them. He was dressed casually, like someone who’d been enjoying a Saturday afternoon at home when he was rudely interrupted and yanked into the office.

“We’re sorry to have disturbed your weekend,” Quinn said as she accepted a seat opposite the massive mahogany desk in Mr. Richards’ office.

“It’s no trouble, Mrs. Russell. It’s not every day that I get this type of phone call,” Mr. Richards said, smiling kindly at Quinn and Logan. “How shocking this must have been for you both. May I ask how you came to learn about Quentin?”

“Yes. Reverend Alan Seaton of Leicester Cathedral told me there’d been another baby, left at a different location on the morning he found me in his church. My birth mother confirmed that she’d given birth to twins the night before and had taken my sister to a hospital.”

“That is quite correct. You do look like Quentin,” he added with a wistful smile.

“So you know her well?”

“Well enough. Her father and my father were great friends—golfing buddies. I’d known Dr. Crawford all my life, so by extension, I knew Quentin since the day Ian decided to adopt her. ”

“Did you handle the adoption?” Quinn asked.

“My father did. I was still a student in those days. It went through very quickly, if I recall correctly.”

“Mr. Richards, where is Quentin?” Quinn asked, hearing the blood rushing in her ears. She was excited, nervous, and apprehensive all at once.

“Mrs. Russell, I am not at liberty to disclose personal information about my client. Surely you know that.”

“But under the circumstances!” Logan exclaimed.

“Mr. Wyatt, I give you that the circumstances are extraordinary, but I can’t break the attorney-client relationship.

I can tell you that your sister is well, and I can offer to pass on anything you wish to send to her, like a letter or an email.

Whether she chooses to respond is entirely up to her. ”

“Can you tell us if she’s in the country?” Quinn asked.

“I’m really not sure. I haven’t been in contact with her for some time.”

“Is she married? Does she have any children?” For some reason, it was important to Quinn to know that. In some far-fetched fantasy, she could already see herself and Quentin sitting side by side in the garden as their children played on the lawn, laughing and chasing each other. Cousins. Friends.

“I can’t answer that.”

“Can’t you give me her contact information?” Quinn demanded. Surely it couldn’t hurt to send Quentin a direct email. It wasn’t as if Quinn would show up at her door or accost her on the street.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t. That information in confidential. ”

“We’ve tried to find her online, but there wasn’t a single hit for anyone named Quentin who might have been her,” Quinn persisted.

“Perhaps she’s not on social media,” Mr. Richards replied, his face expressionless.

“Even individuals who are not on social media leave an electronic footprint,” Logan argued.

The lawyer didn’t respond.

“Can you at least reach out to her and let her know we are searching for her?” Quinn pleaded.

“Certainly, I will do that. It would help if I had something to forward to her, as well as your own contact details, if you wish to leave them.”

Quinn sprang to her feet. “I will write her a letter and post it to you forthwith ,” she said crisply, using the legal term with great sarcasm. “Thank you for your time.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help.” Mr. Richards uttered the words but clearly didn’t mean them. He’d likely put Quinn out of his mind as soon as they left his office until he received the letter from her.

“I bet you are,” Logan grumbled under his breath as they left the solicitor’s office. “Home?” he asked as they walked toward the playground.

“Home. There’s nothing more to learn here.”

“Is it me, or was he particularly guarded?” Logan asked.

“It wasn’t you. He gave us nothing.”

“Quinn, have you considered the possibility that Quentin might already know? ”

Quinn stopped walking and turned to face him. “Know what?”

“Know that she is a twin. Surely, Dr. Ian Crawford saw the news and read the papers, and put two and two together. Two babies, found on the same morning, wrapped in similar blankets, with identical notes attached to the folds. It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to deduce that they might be related.”

Quinn lowered her eyes to the ground. Logan was right.

The news had come as a thunderbolt to her, but Quentin might have known about her twin all along.

Perhaps she had no interest in finding Quinn, and wouldn’t wish to meet her now.

She shook her head. “No, we have to operate on the assumption that Quentin doesn’t know.

Karen seemed genuinely surprised. If her parents knew Quentin had a twin, surely Karen would know as well.

She was old enough to hear the talk, even if they didn’t tell her directly. ”

“I suppose it’s possible that the good doctor only wanted the one baby and had no wish to defend his decision to separate the twins. His wife would have put a kybosh on that adoption right quick if he wanted to adopt both of you.”

“I suppose.” Quinn sighed. “As a student of history, I know that people are always motivated by self-interest, but it still amazes me sometimes how selfish human beings can be. Did no one care about us? About what we might mean to each other? They separated us and gave us away, like a litter of puppies. Even our own mother couldn’t care less about keeping us together. ”

“I’m sorry, Quinn. I can only imagine how that knowledge must hurt,” Logan said kindly. “Do you believe in destiny?”

“To some degree. Why?”

“My mother found you by accident. She saw that article about your house being broken into for grave goods. Right?”

“Right. ”

“Then you ran into Reverend Seaton at Rhys’s office, having gone there that day on a whim. What were the chances of that happening?”

“Very slim.”

“Perhaps the universe, or destiny, is pushing you toward finding Quentin. You’ve found your birth mother and your natural father in less than a year, after decades of wondering about them.

And now you know you have a sister. We might not have a lot to go on, but we’ve gotten further in the past two days than we thought possible.

We know something about Quentin and her life after she was abandoned.

We have a way to contact her. Perhaps you should just write that letter and take a step back. Let her come to you. I know she will.”

Quinn gave Logan a watery smile. “Even if we never find Quentin, I’m really glad to know you, Logan.”

“Me too, sis.”