“Why do you keep pressing about this?”
Vince’s irritation was palpable. “Is it because you realize you couldn’t keep it hidden and now you want to dig for answers? How do you even have the nerve?”
He still wasn’t satisfied, and pressed on, “Did you really think you could keep this a secret? She knows what she looked like as a kid, doesn’t she? Even if you manage to hide it for a while, she’ll find out sooner or later. So tell me—when did you find out?”
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
Timothy’s expression remained unreadable, calm as ever.
“You’re always like this. If I don’t talk, you won’t either, is that it?”
“That’s right.”
Vince was so angry it made his chest ache.
“Fine, I’ll spell it out. It’s just—she looks alike. There are plenty of shows about kids separated from their families, lost and found. Jessy does paper-cutting, my grandfather loves paper-cutting, and then she’s taken Daisy as her goddaughter. She’s got this strange connection to our family.”
Timothy wasn’t feeling well; his body was weak and his mind wasn’t as sharp as usual.
A server brought over their coffees. Timothy took his cup and sipped.
Yates noticed a deep indentation on the first knuckle of Timothy’s right index finger, a trace of blood seeping out.
Yates pressed his lips together. Just how tightly had Timothy been clenching his fist?
Timothy drank several mouthfuls of coffee in a row.
Sheila’s points, on the face of it, made sense.
After all, Vince’s social media was public. Sheila could see everything, and Yates had even commented on a few of those posts.
But when you strung all three things together, something felt off.
If Sheila had only said Daisy reminded her of Jessica’s warmth, Vince would never have suspected anything.
But there were two key phrases.
“Sometimes the thing you’re looking for is right under your nose.”
“And Jessy has a special connection with the Zimmerman family.”
That must have been what planted the doubt in Vince’s mind.
Then Vince had asked Herbert whether Jessica was his biological daughter, confirmed the birthmark, and made a phone call. At that point, even without a paternity test, Vince could be sure that Jessica was Salome Zimmerman.
While Timothy was still lost in thought, Yates spoke up, “Vince, don’t you think Sheila was hinting at something with what she said?”
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