Andrea's Secret
Page 14
Sitting at a table on the veranda of the General Store at Point Particular, the continuous roar of the ocean in the background, Brad Murphy read the letter from Warwick Steedman.
Brad,
I hope you won't find this too strange but I need your help. Last week my sister Andrea died. She had suffered a long time with cancer and thankfully she is now at peace. Just prior to her passing away she revealed to me some information, which as co-executor of her will, I must investigate. Andrea's estate is significant, and her immediate family are the principal beneficiaries of monies to be managed both by myself, and a firm of trustees
Andrea has told me that she has a daughter. It has come as a complete shock to me, but I have to accept that she was alert and lucid when she told me and I have no reason to doubt her. She wants me to locate her daughter if possible, and ensure that she is adequately taken care of under the terms of the will.
The reason I am asking your help is that the daughter whose name is Mary Therese Campbell, and who would by now, be in her early twenties, was adopted out to a family in Brisbane through the Western Family Agency when she was three or four months old. I felt that, with your fairly high profile up there, the agency might be more willing to help and not go too protective on us. Enclosed is a photo of Andrea when she was nineteen. Other details are as follows?
As Brad Murphy continued reading the letter from Warwick Steedman, his daughter Sonia came out from the store.
"Dad, there's a call for you. It's Warwick Steedman."
Brad stopped reading and went to the phone.
"Hello Warwick, how are you? I'm just reading your letter. How's Susan?"
"Hello Brad. I'm fine. We are both fine. It's all just a terrible inconvenience. It was some stupid bloody taxi driver in too much of a hurry as usual. The stay in hospital also caused us to miss Andrea's funeral too, which was a huge disappointment."
"I'm sorry to hear about Andrea, although given the nature of it all, I suppose it's a relief that she's no longer suffering."
"Yes that's true. Actually it's about Andrea that I'm ringing. There's a piece of information that Jill left out of the letter. It's the name of a lady who handled the arrangement when Andrea's daughter was adopted. If you have any difficulty with the agency, you might be able to contact this woman for help. Do you have a pencil and paper handy?"
Grabbing a pen and paper, Brad said, "yes, okay go ahead. "The lady's name is Elizabeth Ashford." Brad took down the name and address.
"I guess it must be pretty important finding the daughter. How sure are you about her name? Is this the name of the adoptive parents?"
"Yes. I believe it is. But that's all Andrea could tell me. It's really all we have. That's why I was hoping that with you being a big-shot psychologist and well known up there, the agency may be more willing to co-operate with us."
"Are you sure the agency is still operating?" Brad asked.
"Yes it is. I've already checked that out. The address I've given you in the letter, is the current one. There's another address at Aston Park, but I don't think it's used anymore. They are close together, so you can check out both at the same time. Maybe the people working at the new address might have been there since the old one closed and remember something about it." Warwick said.
"Okay, well I'll start with the current address tomorrow, and see where that takes me. I'll get back to you as soon as I have something."
"Thanks Brad. I really appreciate your help."
"Haven't done anything yet. I may not be any help."
"Well, it's a start. I'm sure you will give it your best shot for me."
"And Therese Mary too, I suppose," Brad added.
The conversation concluded, and Brad returned to the veranda of the store to consider his next move.
14.