Morning, Noon & Night

"Thank you.’ He sat down. ”re the one who telephoned, right?"."

"To be honest, I don’t know what I can do for you. I don’t have any official connections here." is purely unofficial,’ Tyler assured him. ‘ merely want to trace the background of a young woman." told me on the phone she claims to be your half sister, and there’s no way of running a DNA test."’s right,’ Woody said. He looked at the group. ‘ you don’t believe she’s your half sistert There was a moment’s hesitation. ‘ don’t,’ Tyler told him. ‘ the other hand, it’s just possible that she is telling the truth. What we want to hire you to do is provide irrefutable evidence that she is either genuine or a fraud." enough. It will cost you a thousand dollars a day and -expenses.’ Tyler said, ‘ thousand … T ”ll pay it.’ Woody cut in.

"I’ll need all the information you have on this woman.’ Kendall said, "There doesn’t seem to be very much.’ 168 IQ [email protected] spoke up. ‘ has no proof of any kind. She cam in with a lot of stories that she saysber mother told her about our childhood, and He held up a band. ‘ it.

Who was her mothert ‘ purported mother was a governess we had as children named Rosemary Nelson." happened to her?’ They looked at one another uncomfortably. Woody spoke up. ‘ had an air with our father and got pregnant. She ran away and had a baby girl.’ He shrugged.

"She disappeared." see. And this woman claims to be her child?"

"That’s right."’s not a lot to go on.’ He sat there, thinking.

Finally he looked up. ‘ right. I’ll see what I can do."’s all we ask,’ Tyler said. The first move he made was to go to the Boston Public Library and read all the microfiche about the twenty-six-year-old scandal involving Harry Stanford, the governess, and Mrs. Stanford’s suicide. There was enough material for a novel. His next step was to visit Simon Fitzgerald. ‘ name is Frank Timmons. I’m ‘ know who you are,. Mr. Timmons. Judge Stanford asked me to cooperate with you. What can I do for yout ‘ want to trace Harry Stanford’s illegitimate daughter. She’d be about twenty-eight, right?’ 169 ‘. She was born August ninth, 1969, at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her mother named-her Julia.’ He shrugged. ‘ disappeared. I’m afraid that’s all the information we have."’s a beginning,’ he said. ”s a beginning.’ Mrs. Dougherty, the superintendent at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Milwaukee, was a gray-haired woman in her sixties. ‘, of course, I remember,’ she said. ‘ could I ever forget it? There was a terrible scandal. There were stories in all the newspapers. The reporters here found out who she was, and they wouldn’t leave the poor girl alone."

"Where did she go when she and the baby left heret ‘ don’t know. She left no forwarding address." she pay her bill in full before she left, Mrs. Dougherty?" a matter of fact … she didn’t." do you happen to remember thatt .’Because it was so sad. I remember she sat in that very chair you’re sitting in, and she told me that she could pay only part of her bill, but she promised to send me the money for the r9st of it. Well, that was against hospital rules, of course, but I felt so sorry for her, she was so ill when -she left here, and I said yes."

"And did she send you the rest of the moneyt ‘ certainly did. About two months later. Now 170 I recall she had gotten a job at some secretarial service." wouldn’t happen to remember where that was, would yout ‘. Goodness, that was about twenty-five years ago, Mr. Timmons.". Dougherty, do you keep all your patients’ records on filet ‘ course.’ She looked up at him. ‘ you want me to go through the recordst He smiled pleasantly. ‘ you wouldn’t mind." it help Rosemaryt ‘ could mean a great deal to her." you’ll excuse me." Mrs. Dougherty left the office. She returned fifteen minutes later, holding a paper in her hand. ‘ it is. Rosemary Nelson. The return address is, The Elite Typing Service. Omaha, Nebraska.’ The Elite Typing Service was run by a Mr. Otto Broderick, a man in his sixties. ‘ hire so many temporary employees,’ he protested. ‘ do you expect me to remember someone who worked here that long agot ‘ was a rather special case. She was a single woman, in her late twenties, in poor health. She had just had a baby and ‘!"’s right. Why do you remember hert 171 ‘, I like to associate things, Mr. Timmons. Do you know what mnemonics 1st ‘.", that’s what I use. I associate words. There was a movie out called Rosemary’s Baby. So when Rosemary came in and told me she had a baby, I put the two things together and * * *" long was Rosemary Nelson with yout ‘, about a year, I guess.

Then the press found out who she was, somehow, and they wouldn’t leave her alone. She left town in the middle of the night to get away from them.". Broderick, do you have any idea where Rosemary Nelson went when she left here?", I think. She wanted a warmer climate. I recommended her to an agency I knew there." I have the name of that agencyt ‘. It’s the Gale Agency. I can remember it becauge I associated it with the big storms they have down in Florida every year." Ten days after his meeting with the Stanford family, he returned to Boston. He had telephoned ahead, and the family was waiting for him.

They were seated in a semicircle, facing him as he entered the drawing room at Rose Hill. ‘ said you had some news for us, Mr. Timmons," Tyler said. ”s right.’ He opened a briefcase and pulled out 172 papers. ‘ has been a most interesting case,’ e said. ‘ I began "Cut to the chase,’ Woody said impatiently. ‘ she ",a fraud or noff He looked up. ‘ you don’t mind, Mr. Stanford, I y uld like to present this in in own way.’ Tyler gave Woody a warning look. ”s fair enough. Please go ahead.’, They watched him consult his noiis. ‘ Stanford governess, Rosemary Nelson, had a female child sired by Harry Stanford. She and the child went to Omaha, Nebraska, where she went to work for The Elite Typing Service. Her employer told me that she had difficulty with the weather. ‘, I traced her and her daughter to Florida, where she worked for the Gale Agency. They moved around a great deal. I followed the trail to San Francisco, where they were living up to ten years ago. That was the end of the trail. After that, they disappeared! ‘ looked up. ”s it, Timmonst Woody demanded. ‘ lost the trail ten years agot ‘, that is not it! He reached into his briefcase and took out another paper. ‘ daughter, Julia, applied for a driver’s license when she was seventeen! ‘ good is that Marc asked. ‘ the state of California d rivers are required to have their fingerprints taken.’ He held up a card. ‘ are the real Julia Stanford’s fingerprints! 173 Tyler said, excitedly, ‘ see! If they match -‘ ,’Then she would really be our sister.’ Woody interrupted. He nodded. ”s right. I brought a portable fingerprint kit with me, in case you want to check her out now. Is she heret Tyler said, ”s at a local hotel. I’ve been talking to her every morning, trying to persuade her to stay here until we get this resolved."’ve got her!’ Woody said. ”s get over there!’ Half an hour later, the group was entering a hotel room at the Tremont House. As they walked in, she was packing a suitcase. ‘ are you going?’ Kendall asked. She turned to face them.