Chapter 17 - VERIFICATIONThomas Reed had one adult daughter.
Allison Reed Parker.
Forty-three.
She lived in Virginia.
Daniel did not contact her directly.
An attorney did.
The letter explained enough without dumping scandal into voicemail.
Allison agreed to speak.
She had heard Margaret’s name.
Her father once mentioned:
“a terrible mistake with a friend’s wife.”
Nothing more.
She agreed to genetic testing only after counseling and independent legal advice.
No coercion.
No promise of money.
The lab compared Daniel and Allison for a potential half-sibling relationship.
Results strongly supported them sharing one biological parent.
Not absolute metaphysical certainty.
Strong enough combined with the letters, dates, and Margaret’s eventual admission.
Daniel sat in his car for two hours after reading the report.
Then called me.
“He’s not my biological father.”
I knew who he meant.
Robert.
I said:
“He was still your father.”
Daniel cried.
“Yes.”
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That answer had taken him five years to give Sophie.
Life has a cruel sense of symmetry.
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