I was five years old.
Beneath the photograph was a letter.
My dear Nora,
If you are reading this, I am gone. Forgive me for keeping the truth from you.
My estate has belonged to charity for decades. I never intended to change that. The house will become a home for children from the shelter where you arrived all those years ago.
Richard explained that he had helped fund the shelter’s renovation and had visited on the day that photograph was taken.
When I told him during my interview which shelter I had first lived in, he recognized me as the frightened little girl he had once held.
Then he had overheard my conversation with my landlord.
You needed protection, but I knew your pride would never allow you to accept charity. So I offered you the only security I could think of—a family.
