Chapter 9 - THE BABY IN THE PHOTOGRAPH
The photograph was wrong.
I knew it immediately.
Henry Carter's accident had happened twenty years earlier.
Annie was eighteen.
Yet Laura Carter appeared in the image holding a baby.
Something didn't fit.
I called Rebecca.
"Have the photograph examined."
She nodded.
"Already requested."
Annie sat across from me, studying the image.
"That's Mom."
"Are you sure?"
She nodded.
"Definitely."
"And the baby?"
She frowned.
"I don't know."
Laura arrived an hour later.
The moment she saw the photograph, her expression changed.
"Where did you find this?"
I pointed to the timestamp.
"At the factory."
She stared at it.
Then whispered, "That's not Annie."
My stomach tightened.
"Who is it?"
Laura sat down.
For several seconds, she couldn't speak.
Then she looked at her daughter.
"Honey, there's something I never told you."
Annie's face paled.
"Mom?"
Laura began crying.
"Before you were born, I had a son."
The room went silent.
Annie stared.
"A brother?"
Laura nodded.
"Yes."
"What happened to him?"
Laura covered her face.
"He disappeared."
Annie looked devastated.
"What do you mean, disappeared?"
"He was taken when he was six months old."
I felt my stomach tighten.
"By whom?"
Laura shook her head.
"I never knew."
She continued through tears.
"I was nineteen. Your grandfather had just been injured. Everything was falling apart."
Annie took her mother's hand.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I was ashamed. I thought I should've protected him."
Annie began crying.
"Mom, you were a teenager."
Laura nodded.
"I know."
I looked at the photograph.
"Charles was there."
Laura stared.
"Yes."
I felt cold.
"Did he know about your son?"
"He helped arrange the hospital paperwork after the birth."
Rebecca looked up sharply.
"What paperwork?"
Laura hesitated.
"Medical records. Insurance forms. A temporary guardianship document."
Rebecca's expression changed.
"Do you have copies?"
Laura shook her head.
"No."
I looked toward Annie.
She was still holding her mother's hand.
A brother.
A child lost for eighteen years.
And Charles Graves had apparently been involved.
Rebecca received a message.
She opened it.
Then looked at me.
"The forensic team confirmed the timestamp was altered."
"What's the correct date?"
"Nineteen years ago."
I stared.
That was shortly after Henry's accident.
Rebecca continued.
"The photograph appears authentic. The original date was concealed."
Annie looked up.
"Can we find him?"
I took a breath.
"We can try."
Later that night, an investigator called with information from archived birth records.
Laura's son had originally been registered as Benjamin Carter.
But six months after his disappearance, another birth record appeared under a different surname.
The investigator read the name aloud.
Benjamin Graves.
My heart stopped.
May you like
Because Benjamin Graves was my younger cousin.
Charles Graves's son.
