Some children had gone to relatives within weeks.
Others entered temporary care while their parents recovered from injuries or searched for housing.
Caroline’s file had been marked as abandoned, even though her mother was alive in a rehabilitation hospital.
Emily stared at the page.
“Who marked it abandoned?”
Helen swallowed.
“Raymond Sloane’s office sent us the papers.”
Arthur was listening through a call with Helen’s permission.
His voice came softly through the speaker.
“Why would Raymond do that?”
Helen looked at the device.
“Because the committee wanted the flood settlements completed before the hearings.”
She explained that some families received compensation for relocation if they signed forms surrendering certain claims.
A child recorded as having no available parent could be moved more quickly through the system.
Helen did not claim to know who profited from every transfer.
She knew only that Caroline’s mother visited Meadowbrook three months later and was told her daughter had already been placed elsewhere.
Emily asked whether the mother eventually found her.
Helen shook her head.
“She died before the case was resolved.”
The room was silent except for the soft ticking of a wall clock.
Then Helen opened the notebook to a page marked with a blue ribbon.
“She gave me this name before she passed,” Helen said.
The page read Margaret Vale, followed by an address in Vermont.
Chapter 15: The Price of a Reputation
Celeste Sloane learned of Emily’s visit to Helen within two days.
She did not know what Helen had said, but she understood that a private record had escaped the archive committee’s control.
She called Martin Keene and asked whether Emily was still employed at the diner.
Martin assured her that Emily had become difficult but remained on the schedule.
Celeste suggested that a temporary suspension might help Emily understand the seriousness of her position.
Martin asked whether the foundation would compensate the diner if customers complained.
Celeste replied that the foundation always remembered businesses that respected its priorities.
That evening, Martin told Emily that she had been suspended for three shifts.
He cited a customer service violation from the previous week.
Emily asked which customer had complained.
Martin said the complaint was confidential.
She asked for the policy in writing.
He refused.
Emily took a photograph of the schedule and went home without arguing.
Noah noticed the emptiness in her expression before she spoke.
She explained the suspension and showed him the changes.
He pushed a folded college brochure toward her.
