Chapter 4 - The Woman Had a Name
Amanda did not speak directly to me for four days.
Lawyers handled practical matters.
Wedding deposits.
Her property in my house.
The engagement ring.
No-contact requests while police reviewed the incident.
Then her attorney sent a message.
Amanda is willing to identify the woman depicted in the pendant.
One sentence followed.
Her name is Claire Bell.
I had never heard it.
Matthew and I met in my office.
He searched no private databases.
We started with public information.
Claire Bell.
There were many.
Amanda’s lawyer provided one more detail voluntarily.
Massachusetts.
That narrowed.
A newspaper article from seven years earlier appeared.
Not crime.
Human interest.
LOCAL MOTHER REUNITES WITH DAUGHTER AFTER LONG RECOVERY.
The photograph showed Claire Bell.
Same face.
Older than the pendant image.
Beside her stood a little girl.
Maybe four.
Brown hair.
Holding a stuffed rabbit.
Article summary:
Claire had completed court-required treatment and housing stabilization following a period in which her daughter Ruby entered foster care.
Ruby had been placed for several months with licensed foster parents.
No names published.
The article focused on reunification.
Community services.
Recovery.
Nothing about Amanda.
I stared.
Matthew said:
“Do not jump.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“Why would Amanda have a pendant with this woman’s photograph?”
“We ask lawfully.”
Then another result.
A state licensing-board agenda from six years earlier.
Not case details.
Just administrative action numbers.
One line:
Hale, Amanda R. — Foster Family Home License — closure following substantiated policy violations; no future placements absent commissioner review.
My skin went cold.
Amanda had once been a licensed foster parent.
She had never told me.
Not once.
I was about to marry her into a household containing a toddler.
And on the questionnaire our family counselor had given us months earlier—
Have you ever served as a foster parent, guardian, or primary caretaker for a child not biologically yours?
Amanda had written:
May you like
No.
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