Goodbye, Mr. Regret

"Why do you keep pressing about this?"

Vince's irritation was palpable. "Is it because you realize you couldn't keep it hidden and now you want to dig for answers? How do you even have the nerve?"

He still wasn't satisfied, and pressed on, "Did you really think you could keep this a secret? She knows what she looked like as a kid, doesn't she? Even if you manage to hide it for a while, she'll find out sooner or later. So tell me when did you find out?"

"You still haven't answered my question."

Timothy's expression remained unreadable, calm as ever.

"You're always like this. If I don't talk, you won't either, is that it?”

"That's right."

Vince was so angry it made his chest ache.

"Fine, I'll spell it out. It's just—she looks alike. There are plenty of shows about kids separated from their families, lost and found. Jessy does paper-cutting, my grandfather loves paper-cutting, and then she's taken Daisy as her goddaughter. She's got this strange connection to our family."

Timothy wasn't feeling well; his body was weak and his mind wasn't as sharp as usual.

A server brought over their coffees. Timothy took his cup and sipped.

Yates noticed a deep indentation on the first knuckle of Timothy's right index finger, a trace of blood seeping out.

Yates pressed his lips together. Just how tightly had Timothy been clenching his fist?

mouthfuls of

on the face of it, made

was public. Sheila could see everything, and Yates had

three

reminded

never have suspected anything.

there were two key

you're looking for

special connection with the Zimmerman

have been what planted

confirmed the birthmark, and made a phone call. At that point, even without a paternity test,

Timothy was still lost in thought, Yates spoke up, "Vince, don't you think Sheila was hinting at something with what she

Sheila to go to the hospital and check on Timothy, they'd chatted a bit, but everything

exactly what had made him suspicious.

to Timothy, his voice anxious, "Tell me, when did you find out? Did you let Sheila in on

the hospital, when he'd gotten the DNA results, he'd

had gone off to find her

have something to take care of. I'm

me when you found out. And when I went to Jessy's place to ask for her

question and

you let him outmaneuver you again. You told him exactly what you wanted to know, but he never gave you

cutting him some slack because he's younger-I thought you knew how stubborn

I'd bet Sheila knew exactly what she was doing. She

you think he's going to look