Bannon Brothers: Trust by Janet Dailey

Author:Janet Dailey [Dailey, Janet]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780758255761
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2011-08-01T00:00:00+00:00

An hour later, he was walking through basement corridors that gleamed under narrow bars of fluorescent light, to the records department. He could see the door from where he was—a half door with a section of counter built in to it. The bottom part was closed and the top part had been left open.

The sound of his footsteps got someone’s attention in there. A balding man in a shirt that was too large for him reached the other side of the door just as Bannon was about to knock on the counter.

“May I help you?”

“I hope so.” Bannon reached for his badge and opened the flat leather case that held it, putting his thumb over the name on his ID. The clerk didn’t seem to notice that little maneuver, even though his eyes widened at the sight of the badge.

“What do you need, Officer?”

Bannon gave him an amiable smile. “Nothing too difficult. I’m trying to track down a birth certificate for a baby boy.”

“What kind of case is it?” the clerk asked eagerly. “I watch all the police shows. True crime too.”

Bannon nodded. “It isn’t anything exciting. Sorry.” He reached into his shirt pocket and unfolded the photocopy of Erin’s birth certificate. “The boy was her brother. He died before she was born, and that was, oh, twenty-seven years ago.”

The clerk whipped a pad onto the counter and made notes as he read the information on Erin’s certificate. “Male child’s age at death?”

“Under two years,” Bannon answered.

The clerk did a little math. “Then that would be more than thirty years ago. Goodness. That block of files is a little disorganized, but I think I can help you. May I use this for reference?” He held up Erin’s birth certificate.

Couldn’t the guy remember a name like Randall? For some reason, Bannon was reluctant to let go of the copy. But all he said was, “Of course.”

The clerk folded it in half and pointed the pencil at him. “One more thing. Do you know the birth month of the male child?”

“No. This is just to confirm a couple of details. Like I said, nothing exciting.”

“Is that all you need? I could get you a death certificate,” the clerk offered. “That is, if the decedent had been admitted to the old hospital. If not, then he’s not in the system. The female child will be, of course. But you have that certificate.”

Male child. Female child. Decedent. Not in the system. The clerk’s officiousness annoyed Bannon, who tried not to show it. The guy couldn’t be making much of a living at a job like this, so maybe he had to make what he did sound important.

“You could also obtain a copy from the county bureau of records,” the man was saying.

Something he hadn’t thought of. It might be interesting. “Let’s start with the birth certificate,” Bannon replied.

The clerk pushed a pen and several forms at him that asked questions about who he was and why he was requesting the certificates. For something to

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