I read the sentence again.
And again.
My throat tightened.
“What does that mean?”
Detective Harris looked at me.
“Emily, have you ever seen your original birth certificate?”
I frowned.
“Of course.”
“The original one? Not a certified replacement?”
I opened my mouth.
Then stopped.
I'd never seen it.
My parents had always kept our important documents in a locked cabinet.
When I needed identification for college, my mother gave me a certified copy.
I had never questioned it.
“Why?” I whispered.
Detective Harris looked at the folder.
“Because we found another document in the Northbridge records.”
He slid a page across the desk.
It was a birth registration.
My name appeared at the top.
EMILY PARKER.
My date of birth was correct.
But beneath MOTHER'S NAME was a woman I had never heard of.
ELEANOR PRICE.
The first woman in Alex's collection of photographs.
One of the five women rescued that morning.
