Shattered by Leila Kirkconnell

Author:Leila Kirkconnell [Kirkconnell, Leila]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781700533814
Published: 2019-11-30T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 25

May 6, 2018

“I’m stuffed.” Liz patted her stomach.

“Me, too,” said Stephanie, taking off her coat and tossing it on a chair in the living room. “Still early. Want to tackle…” whispering and pointing behind her, she mouthed, “the case?”

Liz nodded. “Why are you whispering? No one is here.”

Stephanie retrieved the old briefcase and placed it on the table between them. Liz reached for the light and turned it on. The first item Steph pulled out was one of the birth certificates. “Wait…” she said, lifting one finger.

She bent and picked up her purse. Fishing through it, she retrieved a magnifying glass.

“What’s that for?” asked Liz.

“Remember, we couldn’t read what was on the birth certificate?”

Liz carefully unfolded one and laid it between them, under the table lamp. Steph lifted the magnifying glass, then lowered it, and after several attempts, she steadied her hand. “I can only make out some of the writing.”

“Let me look.” Liz tried to grab the glass from her twin’s hand.

“Stop! I finally have it in focus.”

“What does it say?”

“Do you have paper and a pen? Or your laptop would be better. I’ll dictate it. Okay?”

It only took Liz a few moments to pull out the laptop, plug it in, and boot it up. “Okay, ready.”

“Says at the top, ‘Colorado Certified Abstract of Birth.’ Wonder what ‘abstract’ means.”

Liz shrugged. “Don’t know.”

Stephanie returned her attention to the paper. Peering at the faded pinkish and blue-edged paper, she said, “There’s a long state number. Last digits that I can make out are 1902.”

“Okay.”

“There’s a date on the right. Looks like September 13, 1984.”

“Is that the birth date?”

“Yeah. Wait. Hold on.” Stephanie squinted and adjusted the magnifying glass once more. “Don’t think so. I can barely make out the words, but I see ‘iled.’ Oh, I bet that’s date filed. That’s it. Date filed.”

“Not the birth date?”

“No. I see another date. I bet that’s the one. Let’s tackle this one line at a time.”

“Yeah. Sure.”

Looking at her sister, Stephanie asked, “What are you doing?”

“Looking up the difference between abstract and birth certificate while you figure out what’s on that paper.”

“Soooo?”

“About the same. You can use either.”

Stephanie returned her attention to the pink and blue paper. “I can’t make out the name, but I think it has NDA—”

“First or last?”

“First, Liz, first!”

“Don’t get huffy!”

Ignoring Liz, she said, “Last name looks like Muncher, Mulcher, or maybe Macken?”

Liz, puzzled, said, “I’ll type all of them with a question mark.”

Stephanie didn’t answer, but said, “Next… ALE. Must be sex, and I can’t make it out. Looks like someone spilled bleach or something on this paper. The center is all but wiped!”

“Anything else you can see?”

“Hang on for a sec. Wait, let me hand you this. Maybe you will have better luck. My eyes are dancing all over the letters.”

Stephanie exchanged the birth certificate for the laptop, then rubbed her neck. “Okay, let’s see what you get.”

Liz lifted the paper to the light. “You’re right, the middle is all but wiped out, but I can make out what’s on the edges, I think.

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