152 The Key in the Satin Pocket by Carolyn Keene

Author:Carolyn Keene [Keene, Carolyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

9

Family Secrets

“But the two blouses match so perfectly,” Nancy said, frowning. “It can’t be just a coincidence.”

“Oh, they were made as a pair, that’s for sure,” Hannah declared. She studied the two linen blouses spread before them on the table. “But for two people, not one. This second person had the initials S.H.S. Could there have been another Sassoon sister?”

Nancy chewed her lip. “The family Bible showed that Sarah was an only child . . . unless—”

Nancy hurried over to her backpack and dug out the snapshot of the Sassoon family tree Bess had found in their family Bible. She held it up to the light to study the faint scratch marks next to Sarah’s name.

“I’d have to see this page in person to be sure,” she said, thinking out loud. “But a name could definitely have been deleted here.” She looked up eagerly at Hannah. “Bess thought it might have been a baby who died in infancy.”

Hannah shook her head. “It would have to be a sister who lived to be a grown-up,” she pointed out. “This is an adult-size blouse. A twin, maybe, if they wore matching clothes.”

Nancy’s eyes sparkled. “Sarah Sassoon’s will said she had no living relatives,” she recalled, “but what if she was wrong?”

Hannah folded her arms. “The sister may well have died by then,” she said. “After all, these blouses date from the forties, which was a long time ago. Sarah’s sister may have lived to be an adult, but not to become elderly. How old was Sarah when she died?”

“She was seventy-two,” Nancy recalled from the probate records. “But even if her sister died first, if she had children, they would be Sarah’s relatives, too.”

Hannah cupped her chin on one hand. “I guess the big question is, why was this sister’s name scratched out of the family Bible?”

“Maybe she died tragically at a young age, and Sarah, in her grief, scratched her name out,” Nancy speculated.

“Which gets us back to Sarah not having any living relatives,” Hannah reasoned.

“Unless the sister had children,” Nancy reminded her.

Hannah smiled. “You’re not giving up on that possibility, are you?”

“No, I’m not,” Nancy declared. “Delia Cox thought there might be long-lost Sassoon relatives somewhere. She must have known something. Why else would she have planned to hire a detective to hunt for them?”

“Well, I guess she has hired a detective.” Hannah chuckled. “From beyond the grave, she’s hired you!”

• • •

Sunday dawned crisp and clear, a beautiful day. River Heights still lay cocooned in its Sunday morning quiet as Nancy, Bess, and George pulled up in front of Past Times Books.

The store stood on a side street that was closed to car traffic, to encourage pedestrians to stroll and shop. This morning, though, all the neighboring shops were still closed. Past Times’s bay window hung over the sidewalk, with a clutter of intriguing books inside. Bess pressed her nose against the glass. “See, they’ve got almost the entire series of Wizard of Oz books,” she pointed out. “Those are pretty rare.

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