Lost and Found

by Margaret Lake

  Michael laid the tablet on the table and Mia laid her phone beside it so the agents could get a good look.

  “We’ll need her name and contact information. Text me that photo. I have the one we worked on.”

  Michael and Mia glanced at each other. What had so startled them seemed to mean nothing to these two grim men. Maybe their profession required this degree of detachment, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to do their jobs.

  Mia wrote down Ashley’s information with shaking hands. Would Ashley be in danger from these cold-hearted men? They’d already murdered one man and then callously dumped elderly men and women by the side of the road like so much trash, expecting them to die quietly of exposure. She had to ask.

  “Is … will Ashley be in any danger?”

  “Except for you two, there’s been nothing to connect your friend with Jane Doe. We’ll be discreet,” Agent Brown assured them.

  “Maybe we could have the young lady come over here to talk to us. You know small towns. It’ll be all over the place that she’s had a visit from the Feds before the door even closes behind us.”

  “Good. Let’s do that,” Agent Brown nodded, then turned to Michael. “We were going to ask you to take the class photo you found to Mrs. Findlayson for a positive identification, but I think it best to keep her as far away from the case as possible.”

  “You mean …,” Michael croaked.

  “I mean let’s not take any chances.”

  “Okay. That makes sense. I can call her, though, can’t I? She’s all alone and we sort of became friends.”

  “It’s just a precaution, Michael. A phone call will be alright. The people behind this are most likely long gone from the area.”

  “Ashley will be here in a few minutes,” Mia said quietly. “She lives with her grandparents not too far away.”

  Corwin and Brown looked at each other. Either the grandparents were the couple that had adopted Julie Atchinson’s baby, or the grandmother was that baby. They’d need to talk to them, too.

  Mia bit her lip, concerned for her friend, not to mention Carla and Julie. What had started out as a puzzle to be solved had turned into a bad dream.

  The doorbell rang, but Mia stood rooted to the floor, unable to move. Once she let Ash into the house and introduced her to the agents, there would be no turning back. Oh, how she wished she could rewind to the days before this happened.

  But it was all too late. Michael was bringing Ashley into the kitchen where they were gathered around the table. She looks so excited, Mia thought. Because she doesn’t know yet. But she’s looking at those two stern men in black and she’s starting to wonder.

  “Ash,” said Michael, “these are FBI agents and they need your help.”

  Ashley’s head snapped back around to Michael, then slowly turned to Mia for reassurance. “What’s going on, Mia?”

  “It’s okay, Ash.” Mia tried to put confidence into her voice, but there was no disguising the frog caught in her throat. At least no one could hear the butterflies beating their wings against the walls of her stomach.

  “This is Agent Brown and Agent Corwin,” Michael continued. The sooner they got down to business, the sooner Ashley would realize the agents just needed some information. “They’ve come across something in their investigation of the Jane and John Does case and Mia and I told them you might be able to help.”

  “Oh. Well, I guess that’s okay then,” Ashley managed.

  “Why don’t you have a seat, Ms. Caron,” Agent Brown offered. “Would you like some tea or coffee?”

  Mia was relieved that the agents weren’t taking a hard line with Ashley. There certainly wasn’t any reason for it.

  “I’ll put on a pot of coffee,” Michael offered. Everyone sitting around the table with mugs of coffee in their hands would make for a more normal and relaxed atmosphere.

  Agent Brown pulled out a chair for Ashley and pretended not to notice the research opened on Michael’s laptop sitting on the wide-plank wooden table.

  “Just for a little background, Ms. Caron … may I call you Ashley?”

  “Yes, of course,” Ashley nodded, wishing she could do something with her hands to stop them from trembling. Why does it take so long for a pot of coffee to perc? Or was it drip? Couldn’t be drip because there was a steady stream of coffee pouring into the glass carafe. Brew. That was the word. Or was it?

  Realizing she was mentally rambling, Ashley gripped her hands tightly together and tried to concentrate on Agent Brown’s words. There really was no reason to be nervous, not with both Michael and Mia here.

  “Good. Now, as I said. We just need a little background. Mia said you lived with your grandparents not too far from here. Did you grow up in Joseph?”

  “No, I … well, it’s a little complicated. My family is originally from New Jersey and that’s where I was born. My brother, too.”

  “Does he also live with your grandparents?”

  “No. He’s in medical school. Stanford.”

  “Nice,” Kevin nodded. “Y’all must be proud.”

  “We are.”

  “And how did your grandparents end up in Joseph?”

  “Oh, they loved to travel, but of all the places they visited, they loved this area the most. They bought a house here several years before they retired and when Grandpa turned sixty-two, they moved here permanently.”

  “And did your family visit them often?”

  “Yes. Daddy’s an engineer, and when he was off on one of his projects, Mama would bring me and William, that’s my brother, to visit. Only in the summer though, when we were off school.”

  Ashley had no idea where this was going. What did her family have to do with those poor lost seniors? It was a relief when Michael brought mugs of coffee to the table. She noticed the agents took their coffee black … probably used to grabbing it on the run. Cream and sugar at least gave her something to do with her hands before the questioning started up again.

  “So, your grandparents really had no connection with Joseph up until about ten years ago?” Corwin asked.

  “Not that I know of,” Ashley replied. “I mean they traveled around a lot and probably knew the area at least.”

  “I’m sure you’re right,” Corwin smiled. “So, they’re what? In their seventies?”

  “Yes. We had a big seventieth birthday party for Grandpa a few years ago and another one for Grandma last year.”

  That tallied with the year Julie gave birth to her daughter, Agent Brown nodded to himself.

  “I take it your grandfather is William Sr. since your brother is William III.”

  “Yes, that’s right,” Ashley smiled. “Grandpa is called Will and my dad is called Bill, to keep them straight.”

  “And your brother, the doctor?”

  “Oh, he’s too grand for a nickname,” Ashley laughed. “He’s William. The one and only as far as he’s concerned.”

  “I sure hope your grandmother isn’t named Wilhelmina!”

  “That would be funny,” Ashley smiled. “No, she’s Juliana. Such a pretty name.”

  Ashley, thinking about her beloved grandparents, didn’t hear Mia’s gasp. Even Michael sucked in his breath. Julie … Juliana … it was all coming together.

  “Would you excuse us for a moment, Ashley?” Agent Brown asked her. “I need to check something with my partner.”

  “Of course,” Ashley agreed. But now that they were no longer asking her questions, she had to wonder why they were so interested in her family history, especially her grandparents.

  Mia could see the confusion on Ashley’s face and moved around the table to put her hand on her friend’s shoulder. Ashley reached up to take Mia’s hand, but Agent Brown was beckoning Mia over and that small bit of comfort was taken away too soon.

  “Mia, has Ashley seen the two pictures?”

  “No, not that I know of, but Jane Doe’s picture was in the papers. She might have seen that.”

  “Does she know that we’ve identified the w
oman as Julie?”

  “I certainly didn’t tell her and I’m sure Michael wouldn’t have either.”

  “Does anyone else know?”

  Mia bit her lip, thinking. “Michael, of course, and Carla Findlayson. She’s the one who recognized the young version.”

  “Yes, we know. But would he have told anyone else?”

  “I don’t think so. No, wait. He might have told Anna Tomaselli. She’s our real estate agent and Michael has been seeing her.”

  “Thank you,” Brown sighed, thinking that nothing was ever simple. “Please ask Michael to join us.”

  Michael moved quickly to join the agents, wondering what all the whispering was about.

  “Michael, have you told Anna Tomaselli or anyone else outside of law enforcement about Julia Atchinson?”

  “Mrs. Delaney at the school probably knows, although I didn’t tell her. She might have seen the form. Other than that, I called Chief right away and then y’all made it clear that this was confidential. I assumed that the restriction didn’t only apply to printing the story, but to me telling anyone else what I’d found.”

  “So, no one else knows. You’re sure of that?”

  “I’m sure I didn’t tell anyone,” Michael insisted, “although Anna knows that Carla identified the photo as Julie. Anna is the one who got our Jane Doe to talk. Doc was there, too.”

  “But he doesn’t know about Julie?”

  “No. He knows about Merton, though.”

  “Merton?”

  “Yes. Julie said she was knitting a sweater for her dog, Merton. You do know she was found moving her hands like she was knitting.”

  “Yes, we know that,” Brown nodded. It looked like there was minimal chance that Ashley knew anything about Julie or Julia Atchinson.

  Brown led the way back to the table where Ashley sat slumped in her chair.

  “I know it doesn’t seem like it to you,” Brown said without preamble, “but you’ve actually been very helpful.”

  “I have?” Ashley asked, startled.

  “Yes, and I’m going to tell you why. Or rather, show you something that may be a bit of a shock.”

  “Okay,” she squeaked.

  Brown picked up Michael’s tablet and turned it on. He swiped the screen until he came to the current photo of Julie. “This is our Jane Doe as she is today,” he said, showing Ashley the picture.

  “Yes, I saw that in the paper.” Ashley looked up at him, her brows knit, trying to figure out where this was going.

  “And this is a reverse aging we did on the first picture.”

  Ashley looked down and saw a young red-haired girl that looked somewhat familiar. Still she didn’t know what she was supposed to be looking at. She raised her head to look at the agents and then her friends.

  “Ashley,” Mia said gently, “maybe you can’t see it because you look at a mirror image of yourself and it’s never quite the same. But we see you as you are. We see how very closely you resemble this girl.”

  Ashley shifted her gaze to the photo once more, but the implication eluded her. “Wow! That sure is a coincidence. I don’t see it, but if you guys say so …”

  “Ashley, here’s a picture of Julia Atchinson in 1946. It’s black and white, but Mia enlarged and sharpened it so you can see her features.”

  “So?” Ashley whispered, beginning to understand what they were trying to tell her.

  “Julie Atchinson gave birth to a little girl in 1948. She would be the same age as your grandmother. Your grandmother’s name is Juliana and that’s pretty close. Too many of the facts line up for it to be a coincidence.”

  “Are you saying …?”

  “They’re saying that our Jane Doe is Julia Atchinson, birth mother of your grandmother, and that she is also your great-grandmother,” Mia told her.

  “Oh!” Ashley gulped and then burst into tears.

  Michael grabbed some napkins and pressed them into Ashley’s hands. Mia knelt beside her, stroking her shoulder.

  “It’s okay, Ash. It’s okay. I know this is a shock,” Mia murmured.

  “My own great-grandmother,” Ashley got out, trying to control herself. “Tossed out onto the street like so much garbage!”

  “She’s in safe hands now,” Michael assured her. “No one is ever going to mistreat her again.”

  “Grandma!” Ashley gasped, jumping to her feet. “I have to tell her.”

  “Yes,” Agent Brown agreed. “She has to know. But we also need confirmation.”

  “How are you going to do that?” Ashley asked.

  “First, her birthday. Does it match the records we have?”

  “Oh, that’s easy. Grandma always said she was born on the Fourth of July so the whole country could celebrate her birthday.”

  “That coincides, too, and I think that’s enough background to talk to Grandma. Okay with you, Ashley?” Agent Brown grinned.

  “Yes,” Ashley beamed. Suddenly, the world seemed like a better place, knowing that she could give someone who’d been abandoned and alone a family to love and care for her. “Let’s go right now.”

  It took a few minutes to sort out who was going and who was staying, but in the end, Mia was allowed to accompany her friend. This was just too overwhelming for Ashley to face alone.

  The agents wanted to be the ones to tell Juliana about her birth mother, thinking it would be easier coming from an official source. Ashley would be there to support her grandmother and Mia would be there to support Ashley.

  “Don’t worry about me,” Michael chuckled. “I’ll stay behind and clean up the kitchen.”

  “You know what they say, Mikey. A man’s work is never done.” Mia laughed at turning the tables on her brother. It was such a lame joke, but at it least had the effect of breaking the tension.

  “Grandma is absolutely going to freak,” Ashley said as they pulled into the driveway.

  “Doesn’t she know she was adopted?”

  “Yes, and she even told the family in case a medical problem came up that might have been inherited.”

  “So, she never wanted to find her birth mother?”

  “Back then, records were permanently sealed and no one was allowed to unseal them. By the time it was allowed, Grandma was more interested in the future than the past.”

  “How do you think she’s going to take it?”

  “Grandma takes things in stride, but I think she’ll be just as upset as I am over Great-Grandma’s treatment.”

  “Okay. Let’s go see.”

  Corwin and Brown were waiting on the front steps and Ashley let them in with her key.

  “Grandma, Grandpa!” she called, although Ashley knew they would be in the rec room downstairs watching TV.

  “This way,” she said, leading the way to the finished basement.

  “Hey, pretty girl,” William Sr. boomed.

  “Hi, Grandpa,” she smiled, kissing his cheek.

  Juliana held her cheek up for Ashley to kiss and asked, “Who are your friends? We know Mia, of course, but these gentlemen look like the official men in black.”

  “Yes, Grandma, they are,” Ashley said gently. “These are Agents Brown and Corwin with the FBI investigating the abandoned seniors and they found out something about our family. They’re here to tell you about it.”

  “Then perhaps you should sit down. Can I get you some coffee? Have you had dinner?”

  “No, ma’am. Thank you. We’ll eat later.”

  “Get to it,” Will Caron said. “No sense beating around the bush. One of my boys in trouble?”

  “No, sir, nothing like that,” Kevin Brown smiled. “In fact, you may think this is good news. Your granddaughter did.”

  “Then what is it?” Juliana asked.

  Even Ashley could see the resemblance to Julie now. Grandma’s hair had been red like Julie’s years ago, and she had the same freckles, although faded with age.

  “You read about the woman found on the porch of the old Victorian downtown?” Agent Brown asked.r />
  “Yes, of course. Everyone has been talking about that whole sad situation and we’ve been wondering if we can do something for them. Maybe provide foster care until they can be placed or their families found,” Juliana told them.

  “That’s very kind of you, ma’am, and kind of goes along with what we found out,” Agent Corwin nodded. “It seems the lady on the porch had been there before some seventy years ago. Looks like she went someplace familiar after she was abandoned.”

  “Oh, then she might have family here,” Juliana exclaimed.

  “Yes, she does, but not in the way you’re thinking. We’ve been able to identify her as Julia Atchinson who lived here for a brief time in 1946. Two years after she left, she gave birth to a little girl and gave her up for adoption.”

  Both William and Ashley grabbed for Juliana’s hands when she turned pale. It had only taken her seconds to make the connection.

  “Are you saying that woman is my … my birth mother?”

  “Yes, Grandma, she is.” Ashley turned to the agents. “Show her the pictures.”

  While Agent Brown pulled up the photos, Agent Corwin received a call and moved to the side of the room to take it. When he hung up, he called to Agent Brown, “We’ve got to go. Now!”

  “Right,” Brown replied. “Mia, you can fill them in.”

  “Has another one been found, Agent Brown? Juliana asked.

  “We have to go,” he barked, then hurried out the door to catch up with his partner.

  Corwin backed out of the driveway before he said anything. “That was the boss. A duplex was found in the adjoining state with eight seniors, all memory care patients. They were locked in and abandoned.”

  “Any casualties?” Brown asked, anger in his voice. Sometimes it was hard to stay detached.

  “They’re all alive but we don’t know yet what kind of shape they are in. Neighbors heard them yelling and called the police. They noticed that the cars that were usually parked there were gone, too.”

  “So, we’re headed over there?”

  “No, there’s a field office closer than us. Boss wants us to stay here and continue the canvass. They want local law enforcement in the surrounding counties involved with us coordinating. She thinks there may be more of these small units and she wants us to find them before there are any deaths.”