Booktree.ng_Forgotten-Witness

Reynolds or sue me or worse.”
“But you made copies,” Josie said. “There had to be a
reason you did that.”
“At first I was just curious, but then I got spooked. No one
was admitted between 1973 and 1987 except Emily. See?
January, 1987 and after that no one.”
“She disappeared in August of 1986. Where was she for
those six months?” Josie wondered, before addressing Amelia
directly. “Do you think she ran away with your dad?”
“No, my mom and dad were just married then,” Amelia
said. “And look, there’s no admission form for my dad.
There’s no paperwork on him at all and he was living there for
a long time,” Amelia countered. “Even if they considered him
an employee and took over his care out of gratitude, there
should be something.”
“Your dad is more than a little bit of a mystery, isn’t he?”
Stephen chuckled even though he was befuddled. “If what you
say is true and the dates on these forms are correct, and we’re
assuming all these people were adults when they came to live
at the house, that means by the late eighties they were all very
old. Is it so odd that there would be deaths?”
“But when they passed away they were just gone,” Amelia
insisted. “I never heard about a funeral. There isn’t a cemetery
on the grounds. I never saw a mortuary car or a hearse. Once I
asked where their belongings were in case anyone came
looking and Mr. Reynolds said he sent everyone’s things to
storage. Don’t you think that’s weird?”
“We can’t make a judgment if we don’t know the operating
procedures,” Stephen said.
“My father couldn’t bear the idea that Emily would simply
disappear one day. That’s what this is all about.” She looked
from Stephen to Josie, tired and ready to get on with things.
“Look, I totally get that what we did seems nuts. I’ve asked
myself a thousand times if I’m insane, too, but then I look at
those papers. I didn’t know most of those people but Emily is