A month later, Mara called Paige with an update: the agency had located archival records connected to Marion Bell.

The name matched the same caregiver listed in the letter Violet had kept.

There were still gaps.

The child’s birth name had been changed during temporary placements, and the transfer form recorded only a first name and an approximate age.

But the files contained a photograph of a cloth rabbit with one missing ear.

Paige went upstairs and returned with a small shoebox.

From under old birthday cards, she lifted a rabbit whose ear had been sewn back on with green thread.