CHAPTER 4

The next morning, Rory and Phil, both dressed in light blue shirts and dark pants, headed out from their hotel to a nearby branch library, where Sam had made arrangements to have a conference room set aside for them. As Rory drove, Phil filmed him with the camera locked against the front window on the passenger side aimed at Rory. Rory spoke to the camera, giving a quick recap of Dorothy’s recent discovery of her adoption, as well as her having very little information or records to assist in trying to track down her biological mother or father. Rory ended his recap by stating that this will make the investigation very hard.

By this time, they had arrived at the library, so Phil turned off the camera and unattached it from the window when Rory parked next to the library. As they got out of the car and headed for the library entrance, Phil filmed some background shots of the neighborhood and an establishing shot of Rory entering the library.

Inside, Rory headed to the front desk and asked the receptionist about the conference room that had been reserved for him and Phil. She checked her computer and directed him to head up to the second floor, giving him the room number. Rory and Phil got into the elevator and headed up.

The conference room had a small table with several chairs around it, next to a window looking out at the neighborhood. Two shelves full of books lined the walls along the two sides of the table. Phil pulled a second camera from his backpack and set it up on a small tripod on one side of the table angled to get the overall shot of the window side of the table with one of the bookcases visible on one side of the image. He then put the other camera on his shoulder for the close-up shots. Once the cameras were running, Rory walked around the table to the window side. He put his portable laptop and cell phone on the table and sat down facing the laptop. As the cameras rolled, he opened up some record databases on the computer screen and started telling the cameras about the research he was conducting in attempting to discover Dorothy’s adoption records. He explained to the camera that since he only had the birth certificate for the baby daughter that the Samuels had lost, which was somehow used to hide Dorothy’s adoption, he would use a time period shortly after the birth date to search for all adoption records with baby girls.

Rory first tried to search for adoptions in the Northern California area around the Samuels’ home, but none of the adoptions that came up seemed to match any details related to Dorothy or the Samuels. He then changed the parameters to search for adoptions in the Seattle-Tacoma area where the birth certificate had been recorded by the hospital where the Samuels had sought help. Still, nothing came up as Rory expressed disappointment to the cameras. Suddenly, his cell phone began to buzz. He picked it up and looked at the text message on the phone. He directed Phil to come behind him to the side and angle the camera toward the laptop screen. Then he opened up Skype and clicked on a connection. The screen filled with a young, straight-haired brunette woman with glasses who gave a quick hello smile.

“Hello, Liz,” Rory spoke to the woman on the screen. Then, he spoke for the cameras filming him. “Liz at Heritage-dot-com seems to have come up with some information from the DNA test that Dorothy took for us. What did you find out, Liz?”

“Well,” Liz said slowly for effect on the screen, “we ran the DNA results through our database, and … We had a hit. It appears to be a person with a very close connection, like a potential sibling … a brother, probably. This person is a fairly new addition to our database.”

“Wow,” Rory said back to her, “this appears to be excellent news.”

“I’ll send you the name and contact information right away,” Liz said brightly.

Rory ended the Skype call and signaled for Phil to stop filming for a bit. He opened up his email on the computer and waited for Liz’s message to appear. Once it popped up, he took note of the information and put the phone number into his phone. He rose from the table and cued Phil to start filming. He stood by the window and looked out, then he put the phone to his ear and waited for someone to answer on the other end.

Scott Bradley leaned back in his chair and brought a tissue up to wipe a tear from each of his blue eyes. He ran his left hand through his close-cut, dirty-blond hair, then straightened up to look back at his shaggy-haired young interviewer, Jamie, seated next to the video camera on a tripod.

“Sorry about that,” he told Jamie.

“Don’t worry,” Jamie replied. “It happens quite a lot with us. We know how hard it is to bring up the memories even after so long. This is an unsolved mystery that touches so many people, but perhaps someone has some clue or answer even after these many years. How are you feeling about this right now?”

“I know how long it’s been,” Scott responded slowly, “but I also know that I will always keep the memory of my mother and my sister in my heart, and I will continue to hope that somewhere, somehow, the answers will be revealed. They are a part of me still.”

“Thank you for your time,” Jamie said, getting up from his chair. “Perhaps our show will help with those answers.”

Scott rose from his chair and shook Jamie’s hand. “Thank you,” he replied with a weak smile.

Scott turned and walked over to a side table with a pitcher of water and some glasses. He filled a glass and took a swig. Then he turned and watched Jamie check the camera before turning it off. A producer of the show, Timothy, came over to talk with Jamie, who was obviously also the camera operator. Scott smiled at their quiet discussion, then let the smile fade as he thought about the topic of the interview. Suddenly, his phone buzzed inside his shirt pocket. He pulled it out and looked at the unknown number on the screen. He cautiously clicked on the answer icon and brought the phone to his ear.

“Hello,” he answered into the phone.

“Hi,” came the response. “Is this Scott Bradley I am talking to?”

Scott lowered his head intently. “Uh, yes, it is,” he replied.

“Scott, my name is Rory Mason, and I am one of the hosts on the show, Finding Family. May I ask if you had a sister that was put up for adoption when you were young?”

Immediately, Scott pulled the phone away and looked at it intently for a moment before bringing it back to his ear. As he replied, he looked back at the interviewer and the producer, who turned as they noticed the look of shock on Scott’s face.

“No! My sister was not put up for adoption when I was young! Nearly nineteen years ago, my mother took my baby sister for a walk, and they disappeared without a trace! It is a missing person case that is still open. What do you know about my sister?”